\MERiCAN    HIGHWAYS 


o*- 


\\ 


Wl^.  T.  PIERCE, 
Engineer  and  Surveyor, 


ITS  ■^\ 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

Boston  Library  Consortium  IVIember  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/americanhighwaysOOshal 


AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 


EOAD  ALONG  THE  LAKE  0¥  THUN,   SWITZEKLAND. 


AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 


A  POPULAR  ACCOUNT  OF  THEIR  CON- 
DITIONS AND  OF  THE  MEANS  BY 
WHICH    THEY    MAY    BE    BETTERED 


NrS.SHALEU 


DEAN  OF  THE   LAWRENCE   SCIENTIFIC  SCHOOL  OF 
HARVARD  UNIVERSITY 


»*ESTNUT  HILL,  MASS. 


^^ 


NEW  YORK 

THE   CENTURY   CO. 

1896 


A 


^b 


^. 


Copyright,  1896,  by 
The  Century  Co. 


The  DeVinne  Press. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTEATIONS 

Road  along  the  Lake  of  Thun,  Switzerland        .  Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

The  Farmer's  Slough     ...                ....  21 

Suburban  Desolation          .......  25 

A  Load  of  Hay  in  Normandy        ......  28 

View  of  Hunting  Park  Avenue,  Philadelphia      .        .  39 

A  Road  near  Tryon  City,  North  Carolina        ...  91 

The  Carse  of  Gowrie,  Scotland 97 

Mattapan  Street,  Milton,   Massachusetts,  Seven  Miles 

FROM  Boston 135 

A  French  National  Road 178 

Breaking  Stone  for  a  German  Country  Road           .        .  187 

AxEN  Road,  Lake  of  the  Four  Cantons,  Switzerland  191 
Roads  at  Lungernthal,  Switzerland          .        .        .        .205 

A  Stony  Road  in  Bad  Repair .215 

Merlingen  Road,  Switzerland 233 


ERRATA 

Page  3,  tenth  line  from  foot,  for  ''until,"  read  "about/' 

Page  13,  fourth  line,  for  *'As  will  be  seen  by  the  diagrams,"  read 

''  As  shown  by  diagrams  4  and  8." 
Page  37,  eleventh  line  from  foot,  for  "  compared,"  read  "  computed." 
Page  52,  fifth  line  from  foot,  after  ''tons,"  read  "per  mile." 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Preface  . . « o . . , xi 


CHAPTER  I 

General  History  of  Road-Building 

Origin  of  roads.— RomarL  roads. — Roman  naetliods  of  construc- 
tion.— Roads  of  the  middle  ages.  — Beginnings  of  modern  roads. 
—Methods  of  Tresaguet  and  Telford.— Method  of  Macadam 


CHAPTER  n 

Early  American  Roads 17 

First  American  road-building  period 


CHAPTER  HI 

Effect  of  the  Climate 29 

Effect  of  the  under  earth  on  roads. — Influence  of  the  topogra- 
phy on  roads.— Effect  of  forests  on  roads 


CHAPTER  IV 

Nature  and  Distribution  of   Road  Materials  and  their 

Methods  of  Use 46 

Farm  roads.— Neighborhood  roads.— Main  highways.— Road- 
making  materials  in  general.— Trappean  rocks. —Granitic 
rocks.  —  Quartzites.  —  Limestones.— Cherts.  —  Clay  slates.  — 
Gravels. — Glacial  gravels. — Stream  gravels. — Boulder  depos- 
its.—Conditions  of  glacial  deposits.— Gravels  of  the  Southern 
States.  —Phosphate  nodules.  —Shell  beds,  —Paving-brick  clays 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  V 

PAGE 

Methods  of  Testing  Eoad  Materials 82 

Cost  of  road  stone. —History  of  experiments. —Methods  of  test- 
ing. —Field-tests  of  road-making  stone. —Time  required  in  sucli 
tests 

CHAPTER  VI 

The  Governmental  Relations  of  Roads 88 

Difficulties  of  problem.  —American  systems  of  road  manage- 
ment.—Need  of  control  by  States.— System  of  control  by 
private  corporations.— Methods  of  control  by  the  State.— Sys- 
tem of  Massachusetts.— Methods  of  building  State  roads.— 
Methods  of  supervising.— Relation  of  electric  roads  to  high- 
ways 

CHAPTER  VH 

The  Relation  op  Public  Ways  to  the  Ornamentation  op 
A  Country Ill 

Esthetic  conditions  of  roads.— Roadside  trees.  —  Roadside 
plantations. — Roadside  parks.— Water-supply  on  roads.— 
Bridges 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Methods  of  Constructing  Roads 122 

Conditions  of  roads.— Preliminary  study  of  locations.— Grades 
of  roads.— Surveys  and  plans.— Width  of  location.— Drain- 
age.—The  hardened  way— broken  stone.— The  hardened  way 
—gravel.— Cost  of  maintenance.- Macadam  roads.— Methods 
of  preparing  stone. —Preparation  of  the  road-bed.— The  pro- 
cess of  compacting. —Wear  and  repairs.— Shape  of  wheels.— 
Annual  wearing  of  roads.— Methods  of  repairing 


CHAPTER  IX 

Methods  of  Administration  op  Roads 176 

French  method  of  supervising  roads. —English  method.— 
Other  European  methods.  —Best  system  of  administration  for 
American  roads.— Commonwealth  system.— Methods  of  in- 
spection.—Removal  of  snow.— Need  of  elaborating  methods 
of  supervision  fitted  to  the  conditions  of  this  country 


CONTENTS  ix 

CHAPTER  X 

PAGE 

Machines  used  in  Road-Making 188 

Road  macMnes. — Plows  and  wheeled  scrapers. — Use  of  explo- 
sives.—Stone-breakers.— Permanent  and  movable  plants.— 
Road-rollers.— Weight  of  power-rollers.— Watering-carts.— 
Municipal  ownership  of  road-building  machinery 

CHAPTER  XI 

The  Cost  of  Road-Building— Sidewalks  —  Parapets  —  City 

Streets 212 

Cost  of  Massachusetts  State  roads.— Cost  of  gravel  roads.— 
Sidewalks.— Guard-rails  and  parapets.— The  pavements  of 
city  streets.— Principal  varieties  of  pavement.— Difficulties 
arising  from  tramways.— Classification  of  streets  as  regards 
traffic 

CHAPTER  XII 

On  Education  in  the  Science  and  Art  of  Road-Building..  229 
Conditions  of  a  training  in  highway  engineering.— Methods 
of  instruction.  —Opportunities  for  employment  in  highway  en- 
gineering.—Relations  of  State  boards  to  highway  engineers.— 
Special  methods  of  instruction 


CHAPTER  XHI 

Summary  and  Conclusion 241 

Existing  conditions  of  transportation  in  this  country.  — Reasons 
for  failure.— Methods  of  amendment. —Methods  of  Massachu- 
setts Highway  Commission.  —Effect  of  methods  of  local  govern- 
ment on  improvement  of  roads.— Share  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment.—Possible  effect  of  inventions 


Appendices 257 


PREFACE 

THE  historian  of  this  country  for  the  century  which  is 
now  drawing  to  its  close  is  likely  to  note  the  fact 
that  the  people  of  the  United  States  bore  in  a  singularly 
patient  manner  with  the  evils  arising  from  poor  carriage 
roads  until  near  the  end  of  the  tenth  decade,  and  that  they 
then  were  suddenly  aroused  to  a  sense  of  the  sore  tax  the 
ill  condition  of  these  necessary  features  of  civilization  had 
long  inflicted  upon  them.  Let  us  hope  that  he  may  be 
able  to  say  that  in  approaching  this  great  economic  prob- 
lem, they  did  so  in  a  manner  which  showed  that  they  were 
well  informed  as  to  the  conditions  under  which  they  could 
deal  with  it  in  the  light  of  the  previous  experience  of  men, 
and  with  the  help  which  the  resources  of  modern  science 
could  afford  them. 

There  is  always  danger,  as  in  any  popular  uprising  di- 
rected against  ancient  and  long-endured  evils,  that  the 
people  may,  even  if  the  matters  are  of  a  purely  economic 
nature,  act  hastily  under  the  guidance  of  enthusiasts  and 
with  little  regard  to  the  help  which  learning  may  give 
them.  The  result  of  such  action  is  necessarily  a  consider- 
able waste  of  capital,  and  in  almost  all  cases  it  leads  to 
much  discouragement,  and  thus  to  the  loss  of  the  spirit 
which,  properly  guided,  may  bring  a  large  accomplish- 


xii  PEEFACE 

ment.  An  instance  of  this  kind  is  known  to  those  who 
have  attentively  followed  the  history  of  transportation  in 
this  country.  In  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
before  the  time  of  railways,  there  was  a  curious  enthusi- 
asm for  canal-building.  Guided  by  the  profit  that  they 
had  had  from  the  admirable  natural  waterways  of  the 
country,  the  people  sought  to  make  artificial  paths  for 
boats  in  various  directions,  from  one  great  stream  to  an- 
other, and  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Atlantic.  In  their 
enthusiasm  they  undertook  many  enterprises  which  under 
no  conditions  could  have  proved  profitable.  All  these 
ways  intended  for  distant  transportation,  except  the  Erie 
Canal,  became  failures,  with  the  result  that,  except  in  such 
local  work  as  that  which  gave  access  to  Lake  Superior  or 
afforded  a  passage  around  the  f aUs  of  the  Ohio,  canals 
came  to  be  regarded  with  contempt.  It  was  left  to  the 
people  of  other  countries  to  extend  the  use  of  canals  and 
to  show  that,  even  in  competition  with  railways,  this 
method  of  carriage   might   have   a  great  value. 

Those  who  have  the  betterment  of  our  American  high- 
ways at  heart  should  do  aU  in  their  power  to  guide,  direct, 
and  even  restrain  the  present  movement  toward  their  im- 
provement, so  that  enthusiasm  may  be  guided  by  a  busi- 
ness sense,  to  the  end  that  we  may  attain  a  system  of 
ways  properly  related  to  the  needs  of  the  country.  It  is 
with  this  view  that  the  writer  has  undertaken  to  prepare 
the  following  chapters  on  problems  afforded  by  American 
roads.  They  are  not  intended  to  constitute  a  complete 
treatise  on  road-making.  A  work  of  that  nature  must  be 
framed  on  different  lines  from  this ;  it  must  be  addressed 
to  professional  engineers.  Works  of  this  sort  already 
abound.  Many  of  them  are  excellent.  None  of  them, 
however,  so  far  as  is  known  to  the  writer,  are  fitted  to 


PREFACE  xiii 

serve  as  guides  for  those  who  wish  to  understand  the 
general  aspects  of  the  highway  problem,  or  who  would 
learn  what  kind  of  road  may  be  contrived  to  meet  the 
needs  of  the  varied  surroundings,  natural  and  artificial,  in 
which  our  people  find  themselves.^  They  tell  in  an  excel- 
lently detailed  way  how  high-grade  roads  should  be  built 
and  repaired,  but  in  most  cases  their  proposed  construc- 
tions are  exceedingly  costly,  even  where  the  materials  of 
which  they  are  to  be  made  are  readily  accessible.  In 
great  areas  of  country  such  as  are  found  in  the  Missis- 
sippi valley,  where  for  scores  if  not  hundreds  of  mUes  in 
any  direction  one  may  seek  in  vain  for  rocks  fit  to  be  used 
as  broken  stone  in  forming  Macadam  roads,  these  admi- 
rable works  serve  only  to  dishearten  those  who  would  bet- 
ter their  ways. 

Those  who  would  help  the  cause  of  better  roads  in  this 
country  should  approach  the  problem  in  a  large  way. 
They  should,  in  the  first  place,  obtain  a  general  acquain- 
tance as  to  the  influence  which  roads,  as  a  means  of  inter- 
course, exert  on  the  advance  of  civihzation.  Next,  they 
should  understand  the  history  of  the  development  of 
such  roads,  a  history  which  is  curiously  linked  with  that 
of  civilization,  and  is  therefore  full  of  interest  quite  apart 
from  its  economic  apphcation.  It  is  important  also  that 
all  who  wish  to  promote  the  cause  should  gain  a  clear 
sense  as  to  the  relation  of  roads  to  the  topographic,  geo- 
logical, and  climatal  conditions  of  the  country.  Because 
of  the  neglect  of  these  features  there  is  great  danger  that 

1  My  colleague,  Mr,  W.  E.  McClintoek,  of  the  Massachusetts  High- 
way Commission,  has  in  preparation  a  detailed  work  on  road-build- 
ing from  the  point  of  view  of  the  engineer.  This  work  will  give  the 
results  of  many  years'  professional  practice  in  this  field  of  construc- 
tion. 


xiv  PREFACE 

the  effort  to  import  the  methods  and  apply  the  experience 
of  foreign  countries,  or  even  of  districts  in  this  land,  to 
any  particular  field  will  lead  to  grave  blunders.  In  a 
word,  the  student,  if  he  would  be  helpful  to  himself  and 
others  in  this  matter,  must  be  prepared  to  consider  any 
road  as  an  extremely  local  problem,  in  dealing  with  which 
continual  reference  must  be  had  to  all  the  physical  condi- 
tions of  the  ground  it  traverses,  as  well  as  to  the  probable 
future  of  the  population  in  the  area  which  it  is  to  serve. 
It  is  because  the  existing  treatises  neglect  these  important 
considerations  that  this  book  has  been  prepared. 

It  should  be  clearly  understood  that  the  main  object  of 
this  book  is  to  consider  the  conditions  of  rural  ways  and 
not  those  of  city  streets.  This  latter  group  of  roads  pre- 
sents a  peculiar  class  of  difficulties  which  have,  in  many 
cases,  to  be  met  by  devices  quite  other  than  those  which 
may  be  made  to  serve  in  country  districts.  Therefore, 
while  mere  incidental  reference  will  be  made  to  these 
urban  problems,  questions  as  to  the  construction  and 
management  of  city  streets  may  best  be  left  to  the  engi- 
neers who  have  them  in  charge. 

It  should  also  be  said  that  certain  details  of  construc- 
tion and  maintenance  which  are  adopted  in  the  roads  of 
the  Old  World  are  not  considered  in  this  work,  for  the  rea- 
son that  they  do  not  seem  to  be  adapted  to  the  conditions 
which  exist  in  this  country.  The  aim  of  the  writer  is,  in 
a  word,  to  provide  a  general  account  of  roads  which  may 
fit  the  needs  of  the  American  public. 

It  seems  fit  that  he  should  set  forth  in  brief  the  ex- 
perience which  has  made  it  proper  for  him  to  undertake 
the  work  which  is  here  set  forth.  This  in  outhne  is  as 
follows :  During  the  Civil  War  he  was  in  a  position  to 
learn  the  meaning  of  wheelways  in  the  critical  work  of 


PREFACE  XV 

campaigns ;  since  that  time  lie  has  been  much  interested 
in  road-making  and  in  geological  work  carried  on  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  this  country  and  Europe,  and  has  paid 
close  attention  to  the  physical  conditions  of  such  ways. 
For  more  than  four  years  he  has  been  engaged  as  one  of 
the  three  members  of  the  Massachusetts  Highway  Com- 
mission in  studying  the  conditions  of  the  roads  in  that 
commonwealth,  and  developing  a  plan  for  their  betterment 
by  State  constructions.  In  connection  with  his  colleagues 
he  has  had  to  do  with  the  laying  out  and  constructing  of 
about  one  hundred  roads,  and  has  been  particularly  en- 
gaged in  a  study  of  the  relations  of  the  road-building  ma- 
terials to  the  needs  of  these  ways.  He  has  had,  moreover, 
to  do  with  planning,  in  the  Scientific  School  of  Harvard 
University,  a  system  for  the  instruction  of  engineers  in 
road-making,  a  course  which  is  carried  on  under  the  di- 
rection of  WilUam  E.  McClintock,  one  of  the  members  of 
the  above-mentioned  Highway  Commission.  He  has  pre- 
pared two  reports  for  the  United  States  Geological  Sur- 
vey, one  entitled  "  The  Geology  of  Highway  Materials," 
and  the  other  "  The  Road-building  Materials  of  Massa- 
chusetts." 

Those  who  desire  more  detailed  statements  concerning 
the  methods  of  constructing  and  maintaining  particular 
kinds  of  roads  than  are  given  in  the  following  chapters, 
may  advantageously  consult  the  list  of  works  which  is 
given  in  the  Appendix.  This  list  contains,  with  few  ex- 
ceptions, only  works  in  English,  and  includes  those  only 
which  have  some  value  to  the  non-professional  reader. 


AMERICAN    HIGHWAYS 

CHAPTER  I 

GENERAL  HISTORY  OF  ROAD-BUILDING 

Origin  of  roads.  Roman  roads.  Roman  methods  of  construction. 
Roads  of  the  middle  ages.  Beginnings  of  modern  roads.  Meth- 
ods of  Tresaguet  and  Telford.     Method  of  Macadam 

IN  order  to  deal  in  an  effective  way  with  any  large 
economic  problem  it  is  necessary  to  trace,  at  least  in  a 
general  way,  the  history  of  human  endeavor  in  relation  to 
that  particular  group  of  needs.  By  such  a  survey  the 
observer  not  only  learns  the  importance  of  the  matter  and 
the  ways  in  which  men  have  learned  to  deal  with  it,  but 
he  also  comes  to  see  the  blunders  which  have  arisen  from 
the  lack  of  such  understanding  as  he  seeks  to  acquire. 
Therefore  we  shall  begin  our  study  as  to  the  conditions 
of  American  roads  and  the  means  of  their  betterment  by 
a  glance  at  the  history  of  ways  of  communication,  gather- 
ing from  this  history  what  we  may  find  serviceable  for  our 
own  guidance. 

Let  us  note  that  the  first  step  which  men  make  above 
the  ancient  savage  estate  is  closely  related  to  the  progress 
of  their  desires.  When  they  cease  to  be  content  with  the 
simple  goods  which  they  may  obtain  from  nature  just 


2  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

about  them,  when  they  seek  by  trade  or  war  to  win  profit 
from  their  neighbors,  the  questions  of  transportation  and 
the  routes  to  be  followed  by  it  present  themselves  to  mind. 
If  the  savage,  in  the  first  steps  of  his  upgoing  on  the  way 
toward  civilization,  is  so  fortunate  as  to  obtain  possession 
of  animals  which  can  be  used  as  beasts  of  burden,  the  road 
problem  at  once  opens  before  him.  Whether  it  be  in 
China,  in  Europe,  or  in  Peru,  he  quickly  learns  to  take  the 
load  from  his  own  weak  back  and  to  put  it  on  the  stronger 
bodies  of  his  four-footed  slaves.  Beginning  with  pack- 
trails  following  his  older  foot-paths,  he  soon  learns,  in  a 
rude  way,  the  simple  arts  of  the  road  engineer.  The  path 
has  to  be  artificially  cleared  and  rude  bridges  made.  Here 
and  there,  indeed,  where  the  footing  was  hopelessly  bad 
he  learns  to  help  the  conditions  by  rude  pavements. 

The  pack-train  state  of  civilization  may  be  said  to  be,  so 
far  as  transportation  is  concerned,  the  first  stage  of  that 
development.  It  was  a  stage  which  was  long  continued 
even  in  the  oldest  settled  lands.  It  is  consistent  with  a 
considerable  advancement  in  culture,  but  not  with  a  high 
commercial  development.  It  is  characteristically  the 
method  of  carriage  among  peoples  who  dwell  in  small 
isolated  communities,  where  the  folk  profit  nothing  from 
the  life  of  their  neighbors  beyond  the  limits  of  a  day's 
journey. 

More  than  half  of  the  inhabited  world  is  still,  as  regards 
its  transportation,  in  the  pack-train  state.  This  is  true 
of  the  greater  part  of  South  America,  and  a  considerable 
portion  of  our  own  continent  as  well.  Within  twenty 
years  the  winter  has  seen,  from  a  county  in  eastern  Ken- 
tucky, a  caravan  of  small  mountain-bulls,  each  provided 
with  a  "sawbuck  pack-saddle"  on  which  was  packed  the 
exportable  product  of  the  district,  feathers,  pelts,  beeswax. 


GENERAL  HISTORY   OF   ROAD-BUILDINa  3 

and  ginseng,  which  was  thns  conveyed  over  the  mountains 
to  railways. 

EOMAN   ROADS 

The  first  advance  beyond  the  method  of  packing  was 
made  in  the  regions  about  the  Mediterranean,  perhaps  as 
early  as  ten  centuries  before  the  Christian  era.  The  initial 
step  toward  the  wheeled  vehicle  appears  to  have  been  at- 
tained in  such  rude  tasks  as  moving  large  blocks  of  stone 
with  the  aid  of  rollers  placed  beneath  the  masses.  Such 
work  as  done  in  Egypt  must  have  required  the  construc- 
tion of  hardened  ways.  From  this  primitive  experience 
with  the  wheel,  invention  appears  to  have  led  to  the  con- 
struction of  the  chariot,  first  used  in  war  as  a  carriage  for 
archers  and  javelin-throwers,  but  soon  to  come  to  service 
in  the  peaceful  interests  of  transportation.  In  no  part  of 
the  far  East  does  the  wheeled  vehicle  appear  ever  to  have 
been  extensively  used  for  commerce ;  such  work  was  done 
mainly  with  pack-animals.  The  greater  portion  of  the 
district  of  Egypt  and  the  adjacent  countries  is  so  far  clear 
of  forests  and,  in  general,  so  far  open  to  carriages  that  it 
was  not  absolutely  necessary  to  make  provision  in  the  way 
of  roads  for  the  movement  of  the  wheeled  engines  of  war. 
It  was  until  the  time  when  the  Romans  attained  strength 
and  developed  a  highly  organized  system  of  administration 
that  these  carriages,  modified  for  carrying  burdens,  appear 
to  have  come  into  general  use.  The  first  step  in  this  di- 
rection led  to  the  construction  of  a  vehicle  modeled  after 
the  fashion  of  our  ordinary  carts,  commonly  arranged  to 
be  drawn  by  two  animals,  usually  oxen.  Long  after  the 
invention  of  this  simple  carriage,  after,  indeed,  good  roads 
had  begun  to  be  constructed  by  the  masterful  Romans,  a 
front  pair  of  wheels  was  added.     With  this  addition  the 


4  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

cart  became  the  ordinary  springless  wagon,  and  was,  for 
the  first  time,  fitted  for  the  carriage  of  heavy  burdens  on 
well-constrncted  ways. 

Although,  so  far  as  known,  the  Romans  were  the  first 
people  to  undertake  the  construction  and  maintenance  of 
costly  roads,  they  did  not  enter  on  this  field  of  their  en- 
gineering work  until  relatively  late  in  their  history.  It 
was  onty  when  their  colonial  possessions  became  large  and 
extended  into  regions  far  from  the  sea-shores  that  they  felt 
the  need  of  such  high-grade  routes.  We  have  little  evi- 
dence to  show  when  these  ways  began  to  be  paved  in  the 
massive  and  thoroughgoing  way  which  has  caused  them, 
in  many  cases,  to  survive  to  the  present  time.  It  is  evident, 
however,  that  the  Italian  portion  of  these  improvements 
had  been  well  developed  as  early  as  the  third  century  B.  c. 
This  is  shown  by  the  swift  marches  of  the  armies  of  the 
republic  up  and  down  the  peninsula.  A  particularly  good 
instance  of  these  wonderful  movements  of  large  bodies  of 
troops,  necessarily  accompanied  by  wagon-trains,  is  seen 
in  the  march  of  the  consul  Nero  when  he  left  southern 
Italy  to  meet  the  advance  of  Hasdrubal,  who  was  coming 
to  the  relief  of  his  brother  Hannibal.  This  march  was 
made  up  to  the  valley  of  the  Po,  and  returning,  a  dis- 
tance of  over  six  hundred  miles,  at  the  speed  of  more  than 
forty  miles  a  day.  It  is  impossible  to  believe  that  this 
movement  was  made  over  any  but  a  good  road. 

With  the  extension  of  their  empire,  the  Italian  system 
of  roads  was  continued  in  a  far-extending  network  into 
what  is  now  France  and  Switzerland,  and  even  into  Great 
Britain  as  far  north  as  the  Scottish  border.  Similar  roads, 
though  on  a  less  extensive  scale,  were  made  in  the  eastern 
portions  of  their  empire.  It  may  indeed  be  said  that  with 
the  Romans  the  problem  of  rapid  and  cheap  land  trans- 
portation was  first  solved.     These  roads  were  at  first  de- 


GENERAL   HISTORY   OF   ROAD-BUILDING  5 

signed  for  the  uses  of  war,  to  enable  troops  to  march  in 
compact  order,  and  to  be  followed  by  provision  trains  and 
the  instruments  for  hurling  projectiles  which  served  the 
purpose  of  our  modern  artillery.  But  though  intended  in 
the  first  place  as  a  means  of  assuring  conquests  and  ad- 
ministering provinces,  these  roads  were  the  basis  of  a  great 
commerce  which  served  to  give  to  the  Roman  empire  a 
unity  in  its  extension  such  as  has  been  attained  by  few 
modern  states. 

ROMAN  METHODS   OF   CONSTRUCTION 

It  is  characteristic  of  all  the  engineering  works  done  by 
the  Eoman  people  that  they  were  excessively  massive. 
Without  the  learning  concerning  the  resistance  of  mate- 
rials which  we  possess,  without,  indeed,  much  trace  of  the 
habit  of  inquiry  which  lifts  the  artificer  to  the  grade  of  an 
engineer,  the  Romans  built  with  an  utter  disregard  as  to 
the  relations  of  strength  and  strain.  This  is  seen  in  their 
architecture,  but  it  is  particularly  manifest  in  their  roads. 
As  the  labor  involved  in  such  works  was  forced,  indeed 
generally  that  of  slaves,  considerations  of  economy  do  not 
appear  to  have  entered  into  the  reckoning,  as  will  be  seen 
from  the  diagrams  (Figs.  1,  2,  and  3).  It  should  be  noted 
that  where,  as  in  southern  Europe  was  usually  the  ease, 
the  road  was  covered  with  stone  blocks,  these  were  usually 
bedded  in  the  upper  layer  of  cement.  It  is  commonly  as- 
serted ^  that  the  Roman  roads  were  built  in  one  pattern 

1  "L'antique  methode  des  Romains  etait  generalement  de  donner 
trois  pieds  d'epaisseurs  a  leur  pare  qui  etait  compose  de  deux 
couches  des  pierres  plats  ou  fond,  d'une  couche  des  materiaux  plus 
grossiers  par  dessus  et  ansi  de  suite,  en  couches  regulieres,  dont  la 
derniere  n'etait  autre  q'un  beton  dans  lequel  on  fixait  les  pierres  de 
la  surface."  (See  "Annales  des  Fonts  et  Chaussees,"  ^'Memoires  et 
Documents,"  2d  series,  1850,  p.  60.) 
1* 


6  AMEKICAN  HIGHWAYS 

of  construction,  and  that  this  involved  a  pavement  of  a 
block-like  nature  on  the  surface  of  the  way.  In  fact,  as 
is  shown  by  Dietrich,^  there  is  a  considerable  diversity  in 
the  method  of  building,  the  invariable  features  being  some 
form  of  foundation  made  of  large  stones,  with  a  layer  of 
cement  at  a  higher  level.  Where  fit  stone  for  paving 
in  the  manner  of  blocks  was  to  be  had^  the  surface  was 


Fig.  1. 


Scale  l/l50. 


Scale  1150. 


Fig.  2. 


Scale  1/150. 


Fig.  3. 


thus  covered,  the  masses  being  set  in  cement ;  where  such 
a  pavement  was  not  conveniently  possible,  the  surface  was 
formed  of  a  beton,  or  mortar  mixed  with  bits  of  stone. 
Here  and  there,  in  the  successive  beds,  layers  of  sand  or 
gravel  were  often  introduced. 


1  "Die  Baumaterialien  der  Steinstrassen,"  p.  4  (Berlin,  Julius 
Bohne,  1885). 


GENERAL  HISTOEY  OF   ROAD-BUILDING  7 

In  the  construction  of  a  Roman  road  we  note  a  crude 
perception  of  the  solidity  which  stone  foundations  afford, 
and  also,  in  the  cement  layer,  a  recognition  of  the  impor- 
tance of  keeping  the  road  dry  5  beyond  these  half -formed 
conceptions  there  is,  in  these  structures,  no  trace  of  en- 
gineering skill.  So  far  as  I  am  aware,  systematic  drainage 
of  the  foundations  of  the  road  seems  never  to  have  been 
undertaken  by  the  Roman  engineers.  The  bed  was  so 
massive  that  it  in  a  way  defied  the  action  of  frost. 

The  sections  of  the  Roman  roads  indicate  that  the  con- 
struction was  often  three  feet  or  more  in  thickness  even 
in  places  where  experience  should  have  quickly  told,  as  it 
has  taught  moderns,  that  six  or  eight  inches  of  stone 
would  have  served  the  purpose.  In  a  singular^  clumsy 
way  they  combined  layers  of  different  substances,  one 
placed  above  another,  usually  with  a  block  pavement  on 
top,  in  such  conditions  that  no  beneficial  effect  whatever 
could  have  been  gained  from  the  accumulation.  In  gen- 
eral these  roads,  measured  in  terms  of  the  price  of  labor 
in  this  country,  must  have  cost  from  thirty  to  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  a  mile.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
at  least  three  fourths  of  the  expenditure  was  really  wasted. 
It  is  true  that  the  brutal  massiveness  of  the  construction 
has  enabled  these  ways  to  survive  for  ten  or  fifteen  cen- 
turies after  the  builders  passed  away,  but  this  was  not  the 
intention  of  the  constructors.  They  doubtless  intended 
to  do  no  more  than  seemed  to  their  ignorance  needful. 
Although  we  cannot  but  admire  the  result,  we  have  at  the 
same  time  to  recognize  that  the  w^aste  of  human  energy 
which  it  exhibits  indicates  one  of  the  weak  sides  of  that 
wonderful  people.  To  it  may  in  part  be  due  the  swiftness 
and  completeness  of  their  downfall.  The  economic  strain 
on  the  resources  of  a  folk  which  was  applied  by  such  ex- 


8  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

ceediugly  misdirected  labor  must  have  counted  against 
them  in  a  time  of  trial. 

There  has  been  much  speculation  as  to  the  manner  in 
which  the  feet  of  the  Roman  horses  or  oxen  were  protected 
from  the  wearing  to  which  they  would  naturally  have  been 
subjected  from  their  contact  with  the  hard  stone  which, 
in  the  form  of  slate  or  blocks,  usually  formed  the  surface 
of  their  roads.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  feet  of  these 
animals  were  incased  in  bags  of  cloth  or  leather,  but  any 
one  who  has  essayed  such  a  covering  as  a  temporary 
expedient  when  a  horse  has  lost  a  shoe  has  had  occasion 
to  remark  the  speed  with  which  the  material  wears  out. 
Simple  as  the  iron  shoe  appears  to  be,  it  was  not  invented 
until  about  the  third  century  of  our  era ;  therefore  in  the 
days  when  the  construction  of  Roman  roads  went  forward 
with  the  greatest  rapidity  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  they 
were  made  serviceable.  It  seems  to  me  likely  that  the 
need  was  met  in  a  very  simple  way,  by  applying  to  the 
paved  street  a  layer  two  or  three  inches  thick  of  ordinary 
soil.  Such  a  covering  would  enable  unshod  animals  to  do 
their  work  without  damage  to  their  feet.  Here  and  there 
beside  old  Roman  roads,  paved  as  some  of  them  are  with 
basaltic  blocks,— a  stone  which  an  unshod  burdened  horse 
could  not  tread  for  the  distance  of  ten  miles  without 
becoming  lame,— we  may  still  note  the  existence  of  de- 
pressions from  which  materials  for  the  renewal  of  the 
earthen  covering  may  have  been  taken.  These  ancient 
pits  have  been  much  effaced  by  the  processes  of  change 
which  have  acted  for  many  centuries.  They  are,  how- 
ever, sufficiently  distinct  to  warrant  the  suggestion  which 
has  been  made. 


GENERAL  HISTORY  OF   ROAD-BUILDING 


KOADS   OF   THE  MIDDLE  AGES 

With  the  downfall  of  the  Roman  eniph^e,  even  before 
what  may  fairly  be  termed  the  time  of  its  overthrow,  the 
road-building  spirit  died  away.  It  was  the  product  of  the 
imperial  motive.  It  naturally  passed  away  when  Europe 
was  resolved  into  its  local  elements,  and  when  each  ruler 
held  his  small  estate  more  securely  when  he  was  separated 
from  troublesome  neighbors  by  impassable  ways.  In  the 
medieval  period  not  only  were  there  no  Romans  to  under- 
take transcontinental  marches,  but  there  was  also  no 
commerce  of  any  moment  which  went  beyond  a  limited 
neighborhood.  The  local  rulers  not  only  abandoned  road- 
building,  but  there  is  evidence  that  they  in  certain  cases 
destroyed  the  ancient  ways  which  might  have  given  access 
to  their  dominions.  From  time  to  time,  when  great  leaders, 
such  as  Charlemagne,  consolidated  scattered  governments 
into  something  like  an  empire,  the  imperial  road-building 
motive  again  manifested  itseK,  but  never  in  a  very  effective 
way.  We  have  to  pass  by  the  middle  ages  and  well  into 
the  period  of  our  modern  days,  with  its  reintegration  of 
the  detached  feudal  holdings,  before  we  come  once  again 
to  a  road-building  period. 

So  recent  is  this  change  to  the  better  economic  system 
which  has  once  again  turned  the  attention  of  aU  civilized 
states  to  the  construction  and  care  of  roads  that  we  can 
still  see,  even  in  those  parts  of  Europe  which  have  the 
best  ways,  marks  of  the  imperfect  communications  of  the 
medieval  time.  Thus  in  England  and  in  many  of  the  older 
parts  of  this  country  we  often  find  the  highways  very  broad, 
the  location  being  not  infrequently  a  hundred  feet  or  more 
in  width.     These  broad  roads  were  intended  to  serve  the 


10  AMEEICAN  HIGHWAYS 

needs  of  the  wagoners  by  affording  an  opportunity  fre- 
quently to  change  the  place  traversed  by  the  wheels,  so  as 
to  obtain  in  muddy  times  firmer  ground  or  to  enable  the 
driver  to  avoid  the  deep  cradle-holes  which  develop  in 
an  ill-conditioned  way.  The  observant  traveler  may  some- 
times note  on  the  crests  and  sides  of  hills  gully-like  de- 
pressions, which  are  what  remain  of  the  deep  creases  worn 
on  the  face  of  the  country  by  the  abandoned  tracks  which 
were  followed  by  the  pack-trains.  Over  these  ways  the 
ancient  commerce  moved,  with  its  burden  on  the  backs  of 
oxen  or  horses,  the  tail  of  the  forward  animal  tied  to  that 
next  behind  in  the  procession. 

BEGINNINGS   OF  MODERN  ROADS 

The  first  step  toward  the  modern  better  roads  appears 
to  have  been  made  in  about  1775,  when  France  began  to 
feel  the  awakening  of  that  desire  for  better  things  which 
unhappily  led  in  the  end  to  the  so-called  French  Revolu- 
tion. Under  that  modern  C^sar,  Napoleon  I,  the  con- 
struction of  roads,  which  in  many  cases  was  in  effect  the 
reconstruction  of  the  old  Roman  ways,  was  demanded  for 
the  better  movement  of  the  armies  which  for  a  score  of 
years  he  had  occasion  to  move  swiftly  from  one  part  of  his 
empire  to  the  other.  Among  the  first  of  these  construc- 
tions was  that  over  the  Alps  from  the  Rhone  valley  of 
Switzerland,  a  road  which  he  had  found  such  difficulty  in 
traversing  in  his  descent  upon  the  Austrian  armies  in  the 
last-named  country.  Probably  at  no  time  in  the  history 
of  road-making  has  the  work  of  bettering  ways  gone  on 
with  such  rapidity  as  in  the  reign  of  that  marvelous  despot. 
Although  the  greater  part  of  the  present  admirable  road 
system  of  France  has  been  developed  since  the  downfall 


GENERAL  HISTORY  OF  ROAD-BUILDING  11 

of  Napoleon,  the  impulse  in  this  direction  was  clearly 
shaped,  if  not  developed,  by  him.  Of  all  the  marks  which 
he  has  left  npon  France,  that  of  its  better  ways  may  be 
reckoned  as  the  greatest  of  the  visible  monuments  of  his 
reign. 

The  great  movement  toward  the  betterment  of  social 
and  economic  conditions  which  manifested  itself  in  the 
violence  of  the  French  Revolution  affected  also  other 
countries  in  Europe,  and  led  to  a  very  general  improve- 
ment of  the  transportation  routes,  so  that  the  road-building 
motive  can  be  discerned  in  Switzerland,  in  various  parts 
of  Germany  and  Italy,  but,  above  all,  in  Great  Britain. 
In  the  last-named  country  the  military  motive  had  less  to 
do  with  the  betterment  of  the  ways  than  in  other  lands. 
Great  Britain,  which  from  the  time  of  the  Tudors  had  been 
more  under  the  influence  of  the  economic  spirit  than  any 
other  country,  proceeded  to  improve  her  roads  mainly,  if 
not  altogether,  with  reference  to  commerce.  The  densely 
peopled  condition  of  the  island,  the  considerable  develop- 
ment of  manufacturing  industries,  and  the  general  presence 
of  good  road-building  stones  led  to  the  extension  of  car- 
riageways in  a  more  rapid  manner  than  in  any  other 
country ;  so  that  earlier  than  any  other  the  land  was  pro- 
vided with  excellent  roads,  though  at  the  present  time  the 
French  have  attained  in  this  regard  to  a  somewhat  more 
perfect  system  of  ways. 

In  the  revival  of  road-building  we  see  at  once,  as  in 
many  other  things,  the  difference  between  the  Roman  and 
the  modern  engineer.  The  Roman,  as  before  remarked, 
the  least  experimental  of  cultivated  peoples,  sought 
strength  and  endurance  without  any  reference  to  the  cost 
of  his  constructions.  The  modern  folk  approached  the 
problems  of  highway  engineering  with  a  clear  sense  as  to 


12  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

the  need  of  a  sound  theory  supported  by  carefully  gaged 
experience.  This  led  the  road  engineers  to  note  that  where 
broken  bits  of  stone  are  placed  upon  a  road  to  the  depth 
of  several  inches  the  fragments,  when  traversed  by  w^heels, 
soon  become  compacted  into  a  solid  mass,  provided  the 
quality  of  the  stone  is  such  as  to  permit  this  aggrega- 
tion. In  this  condition  the  pavement  becomes  essentially 
like  a  slab  of  tolerably  solid  rock,  through  which  the 
wheels  will  not  break  until  the  sheet  has  worn  thin  by  the 
impact  of  vehicles  and  feet.  The  use  of  broken  stone  in 
a  reckoned  minimum  thickness  of  coating,  the  material 
being  placed  upon  a  well-shaped  bed,  appears  to  have  been 
one  of  the  many  interesting  contributions  which  the  French 
have  made  toward  the  betterment  of  roads.  The  begin- 
ning of  this  system,  which  has  served  so  well,  was  made 
about  1764  by  a  French  engineer,  Tresaguet.  In  his 
method  of  construction  the  stone  element  of  the  road 
consisted  of  a  foundation  made  much  in  the  manner  of 
the  Roman  ways,  composed  of  large  fragments  of  rock  set 
closely  together,  their  projecting  points  being  broken  off 
and  their  interspaces  filled  with  smaller  bits.  On  this 
heavy  foundation  there  was  laid  a  covering  of  small  frag- 


Scale  1/150. 
Fig.  4. 

ments  such  as  are  used  on  our  modern  broken-stone  roads. 
The  roads  built  by  Tresaguet  afforded  the  pattern  for  the 
road  construction  in  France  for  nearly  fifty  years  after 
his  method  was  introduced. 

From  France  the  improvement  introduced  by  the  French 


GENERAL  HISTORY  OF  ROAD-BUILDING  13 

passed  to  England,  wliere,  in  the  hands  of  TeKord,  who 
began  his  work  abont  1820,  it  underwent  certain  modifi- 
cations, which,  though  at  first  sight  unimportant,  consti- 
tuted a  considerable  advance.  As  will  be  seen  from  the 
diagrams,  the  superficial  resemblance  between  the  methods 
of  Tresaguet  and  Telford  is  very  great.  So  far  as  the 
foundation  of  large  stones  is  concerned,  there  is  not  much 
difference  between  the  two  plans.  The  innovations  in  the 
Englishman's  system  consist  in  his  arrangement  of  the 
foundation  so  that  it  shall  have  an  arched  form,  following 
the  curve  which  is  to  be  given  to  the  surface  of  the  road. 
Moreover,  while  the  method  of  Tresaguet  provides  only 
for  a  thin  layer  of  broken  stone,  which  apparently  was  in 
the  first  instance  intended  only  to  smooth  over  the  irreg- 
ularities of  the  foundation,  that  of  Telford  demands  half 
a  foot  in  depth  for  the  upper  layer,  the  fragments  being 
gaged  so  that  they  will  pass  through  a  circular  opening 
two  and  a  half  inches  in  diameter.  Furthermore,  his 
method  requires  that  the  stone  should  be  placed  on  the 
road  in  two  successive  layers,  the  first  having  a  depth  of 
four  inches,  which,  after  it  was  trodden  down  by  the 
wheels,  was  in  turn  to  be  covered  by  a  final  layer  of  the 
same  kind  of  broken  stone,  two  inches  in  thickness,  to 
which  was  added  an  upper  coating  of  clean  gravel  one  and 
a  half  inches  in  depth. 

METHODS   OF   TRESAGUET   AND  TELFORD 

It  is  interesting  to  note  in  these  systems  of  Tresaguet 
and  of  Telford  the  slow  manner  in  which  road  construc- 
tion became  emancipated  from  the  control  of  tradition. 
Working  in  a  country  which  abounded  in  well-preserved 
remains  of  the  ancient  Roman  ways,  the  highway  engineers, 


14  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

though  they  began  to  perceive  that  the  broken  stone  would 
compact  into  a  solid  mass,  could  not  bring  themselves  to 
believe  that  a  good  road  could,  with  any  conditions  of 
foundation,  be  made  of  broken  stone  alone.  They  clung 
to  the  ideal  which  guided  the  Romans,  and  which  led  them 
to  believe  that  a  massive  underpinning  of  large  stones, 
wedged  together,  was  necessary  to  support  the  seemingly 
frailer  upper  layer.  It  required  an  inventive  genius  in 
road  construction  to  make  the  last  great  advance  in  the 
cheapening  of  ways,  through  the  abandonment  in  all  or- 
dinary conditions  of  the  substructure  to  which  the  road- 
builders  had  so  obstinately  clung.  This  man  was  Macadam. 

METHOD   OF   MACADAM 

It  is  not  impossible  that  Macadam  obtained  the  first 
suggestion  of  a  road  built  altogether  of  broken  stone 
through  the  construction  of  Napoleon's  road  over  the 
Simplon,  where,  because  of  the  fact  that  nature  had  pro- 
vided a  rock  foundation,  the  old  Roman  basement  of  the 
way  was  omitted.  Macadam's  work,  beginning  in  1816, 
somewhat  antedates  that  of  Telford,  but,  as  is  often  the 
case  with  notable  inventions,  his  work  became  more  ap- 
preciated in  France  than  it  was  in  England,  and  only  after 
many  years  was  received  with  suitable  favor  in  his  own 
country. 

To  Macadam  we  owe  the  first  clear  understanding  as 
to  the  sufficiency  of  the  broken  stone  to  maintain  itself  in 
a  perfectly  satisfactory  way,  quite  as  well  as  though  it  were 
on  a  pavement  foundation,  wherever  the  earth  of  the  under- 
soil is  not  of  soft  clay  lying  in  a  position  where  it  may 
readily  become  mud.  He  saw  that  a  moderately  thick  layer 
of  broken  stone  when  well  compacted  would  prevent  the 


GENERAL  HISTORY  OF  ROAD-BUILDING  15 

passage  of  water  into  the  under  earth,  which  when  dry 
would  afford  well-needed  support.  Moreover,  though 
Telford  had  noted  that  the  stones  which  were  to  be  com- 
pacted must  all  be  of  small  size,  he  did  not  fully  appreciate 
the  fact  that  the  matter  of  their  diameter  was  one  of  much 
importance ;  that  while  the  lower  layer  might  be  composed 
of  bits  three  or  four  inches  in  diameter,  that  just  beneath 
the  wheels  should  be  made  up  of  pieces  not  more  than  from 
one  and  a  half  to  two  and  a  half  inches  through. 

Although  Macadam,  as  is  often  the  case  with  inventors, 
overestimated  the  sufficiency  of  the  layer  of  compacted 
broken  stone  to  maintain  its  position  under  conditions  of 
soft  foundation,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  his  work, 
inasmuch  as  it  emancipated  our  road-masters  from  the 
costly  ancient  traditions,  constitutes  one  of  the  most  far- 
reaching  inventions  which  have  been  made  in  relation  to 
wheeled  ways.^  The  best  modern  practice  in  the  construc- 
tion of  country  roads  which  are  to  serve  a  large  body  of 
travel,  as  well  as  that  followed  in  the  greater  part  of  city 
streets,  combines  the  methods  of  Macadam  and  those  of 
the  Eoman  type,  which  were  brought  into  extensive  use 
in  England  by  Telford,  the  foundation  of  stone  blocks 
firmly  wedged  together  being  used  only  where  the  under 
earth  was  of  an  unstable  nature,  or  where  it  cannot 


1  The  propriety  of  calling  the  process  of  building  roads  of  broken 
stone  macadamizing  may  well  be  questioned.  The  use  of  the  ma- 
terial was  established  before  Macadam's  day.  From  an  engineering 
point  of  view  we  owe  to  the  able  Scotchman  little  save  the  confidence 
in  the  material  when  used  without  especially  constructed  founda- 
tions ;  this  confidence  is  often  misplaced.  Nevertheless,  as  the 
general  adoption  of  the  method  of  building  roads  of  broken  stone 
without  a  stone  pavement  was  due  to  this  master,  the  name  is  not 
altogether  misapplied. 


16  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

readily  be  brought  to  a  firm  state  by  an  easy  system  of 
drainage. 

With  this  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  art  of  road-mak- 
ing np  to  the  beginning  of  modern  practice,  we  shall  next 
turn  our  attention  to  a  glance  at  the  development  of  roads 
in  our  own  country. 


CHAPTER  II 
EARLY  AMERICAN  ROADS 

First  American  road-building  period 

AT  the  time  when  the  English  settlements  in  North 
J\.  America  were  formed,  the  methods  of  road-building 
in  the  mother-country  w^ere  in  the  low  state  to  which  they 
had  been  brought  during  the  dark  ages.  The  main  ways 
were,  except  in  the  dry  season,  imfltted  for  any  considerable 
use.  Much  of  the  travel  in  the  remoter  districts  was  still 
carried  on  by  means  of  pack-trains.  On  this  account  the 
traditions  which  came  with  the  early  settlers  to  America 
were  practically  valueless  as  a  guide  in  the  construction 
of  good  ways. 

If  the  colonists  of  this  country  had  come  to  it  in  the  time 
of  Rome,  they  would  have  been  provided  at  the  cost  of  the 
empire  with  a  general  system  of  good  roads  such  as  that 
masterful  people  usually  constructed  in  their  (>.olonies. 
Although  these  ways  would  have  been  built  for  the  needs 
of  militarj^  occupation,  they  would  at  once  have  served 
for  economic  development,  as  they  did  in  many  other 
lands.  But  at  the  time  when  the  American  settlements 
were  made  the  mother-country  gave  them  nothing  that 
cost  money.  The  settlers  had  to  provide  all  the  frame- 
work of  civilization  for  themselves.  Bringing  with  them 
no  traditions  of  good  ways,  and  without  the  means  from 
2     -  17 


18  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

their  scanty  earnings  of  making  snch  a  provision,  our 
people  began  by  accepting  as  inevitable  a  class  of  roads 
which  was  of  such  low  grade  that  they  have  proved  the 
greatest  possible  hindrances  to  the  material  and  social 
welfare  of  the  land.  For  a  hundred  years  after  the  settle- 
ment of  the  Atlantic  seaboard  began  there  was  hardly 
any  way  in  this  country  fit  for  carriages.  The  intercourse 
between  the  settlements  was  maintained  by  boats,  or  by 
paths  which  were  barely  fit  for  horsemen  and  pack-animals. 
With  the  gradual  increase  in  wealth  and  population  the 
use  of  carriages  increased.  The  original  trackways  were 
cleared  so  as  to  permit  the  passage  of  vehicles,  and  some- 
thing like  roads  began  to  be  established.  It  was,  however, 
another  century  before  any  considerable  part  of  the  traffic 
of  the  country  passed  over  ordinary  highways. 

So  far  as  the  inquiries  of  the  writer  have  extended,  there 
appears  no  reason  to  believe  that  any  well-paved  roads 
existed  in  this  country  outside  of  the  cities  and  towns  until 
after  the  year  1800.  When  the  systems  of  Tresaguet, 
Telford,  and  Macadam  began  to  be  applied  to  English  ways, 
when  it  was  shown  to  be  possible,  without  excessive  cost, 
to  make  excellent  roads  wherever  suitable  broken  stone 
could  be  provided,  there  arose  in  this  country  a  remark- 
able movement  in  favor  of  bettered  routes.  Much  to  de- 
velop this  motive  was  done  by  the  construction  of  the  so- 
called  National  Road,  which  was  carried  from  Washington 
westward  to  the  central  portion  of  the  Mississippi  valley. 

FIRST  AMERICAN  ROAD-BUILDING  PERIOD 

At  the  outset  of  what  we  may  call  the  first  American 
road-building  movement,  which  began  about  two  hundred 
years  after  the  founding  of  the  first  English  settlements^ 


EARLY  AMERICAN  ROADS  19 

our  people  in  general  followed  not  only  the  English 
method  of  construction,  but  also  the  plan  so  common  in 
the  mother-country  of  building  these  roads  by  the  instru- 
mentality of  corporations,  which  were  allowed  to  charge  toll 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  way  and  for  the  profit  of  the 
stockholders.  The  toll-road  system  did  not  originate  at 
this  time ;  it  began  much  earlier.  With  the  advance  of  the 
population  to  the  westward,  in  the  last  quarter  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  charters.  State  and  national,  were 
given  to  many  turnpike  companies,  who  would  undertake 
to  clear  away  the  forests  and  in  a  measure  to  gi'ade  the 
ways  so  that  they  might  be  made  passable  for  strong 
wagons. 

A  notable  instance  of  one  of  the  early  toll- ways  is  to  be 
found  in  what  was  known  as  the  Wilderness  turnpike, 
extending  from  the  Shenandoah  valley,  in  Virginia,  west- 
ward by  way  of  the  waters  of  the  Upper  Tennessee  and 
Cumberland  Gap  to  central  Kentucky.  This  route,  which, 
owing  to  the  topographic  features  of  the  country  it  trav- 
erses, was  with  difficulty  opened  to  the  passage  of  pack- 
trains,  was  by  the  corporation  which  undertook  its  im- 
provement brought  into  an  excellent  condition  for  use  by 
wagons.  It  was,  indeed,  the  main  way  by  which  the  people 
of  Virginia  found  a  passage  into  the  valley  of  the  Ohio. 
The  early  construction  of  this  road  permitted  a  relatively 
large  amount  of  commerce  between  the  East  and  the  West, 
and  allowed  the  settlements  of  Kentucky  to  attain  by  the 
beginning  of  this  century  a  strength  which  enabled  them 
rapidly  to  make  head  against  the  difficulties  of  the  wilder- 
ness and  the  resistance  which  the  Indians  and  the  British 
opposed  to  the  advance  of  the  American  people  in  that 
part  of  the  world. 

In  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  in  parts  of  the 


20  AMEEICAN  HIGHWAYS 

neighboring  States,  the  absence  of  the  encumbrance  of 
glacial  drift,  and  the  general  presence  of  good  building 
stones,  made  it  possible  to  develop  the  system  of  macad- 
amized ways,  built  by  corporations,  and  maintained,  often 
with  great  profit,  by  the  charge  of  toll.  This  method  of 
building  roads,  though  in  the  end  when  a  community  be- 
comes well  established  disadvantageous  to  its  industries, 
is  in  the  stage  of  settlement  undoubtedly  beneficial,  for 
the  reason  that  it  induces  capital  to  forerun  the  needs  of 
the  population,  giving  ways  which  promote  the  develop- 
ment of  the  land  before  the  settlers  are  of  their  own  means 
able  to  make  such  provision.  The  speed  with  which  good 
lands  of  the  States  which  were  characteristically  the  seats 
of  toll-roads  were  brought  under  tillage  must  be  attributed 
to  the  extended  use  of  such  corporation  ways. 

Although  toll-roads  were  most  characteristically  devel- 
oped in  the  States  above  mentioned,  and  there  remain  to 
this  day  a  feature  in  their  economic  system,  such  roads 
were  also  common  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States  in  the 
early  part  of  this  century.  Even  in  New  England  many 
of  the  greater  ways  of  intercommunication  were  originally 
built  under  the  toll  system.  A  half-dozen  or  more  of  these 
main  ways  radiated  from  Boston,  Massachusetts,  and  are 
still  generally  known  as  turnpikes,  a  name  which  marks 
their  original  conditions.  In  general,  however,  provisions 
have  been  made  in  the  laws  of  all  the  seaboard  States  north 
of  Virginia,  and  to  a  great  extent  in  all  the  so-called  North- 
ern States,which  have  cleared  away  the  turnpike  companies' 
rights  in  the  roads  they  once  possessed,  returning  these 
ways  to  the  free  use  of  the  public.  The  greater  economic 
advance  of  the  non-slaveholding  portions  of  this  country 
in  the  time  before  the  Civil  War  is  well  indicated  by  this 
change  in  the  highway  system.     So  far  as  the  writer  has 


a      (> 
o     M 


3"   o 
I 


EARLY  AMERICAN  ROADS  23 

learned,  there  are  now  perhaps  not  more  than  three  or 
four  toll-roads  in  New  England,  and  perhaps  not  more 
than  that  number  of  bridges  where  toll  is  to  be  paid. 
These  exceptional  cases  in  which  the  ways  remain  ob- 
structed are  all  under  peculiar  conditions  which  for  one 
reason  and  another  justify  the  ancient  method  of  charging 
the  traveler  a  fee  for  a  peculiar  privilege. 

In  the  greater  part  of  our  frontier  country  the  process 
of  road-making,  as  the  settlements  advance  westward,  has 
in  the  first  instance  consisted  in  granting  a  location  for 
the  road  along  the  most  practicable  way  for  use.  In  the 
beginning  those  who  used  the  roads  were  compelled  to 
make  them  fit  for  their  needs  as  they  might  be  able  to  do. 
As  the  local  governments  were  organized,  small  appropri- 
ations were  made  to  better  the  least  passable  portions  of 
the  route.  Gradually  there  came  to  be  some  appropriation 
of  money  or  of  labor  in  the  wa>j  of  a  road  tax,  often,  as 
noted  below,  in  the  form  of  labor,  which  was  expended 
almost  never  on  a  better  class  of  improvements,  but  in 
practically  all  cases  in  making  temporary  provisions  to 
keep  the  roads  passable  at  least  in  certain  seasons  of  the 
year. 

As  before  remarked,  the  traditions  which  our  people 
inherited  in  matters  concerning  road-building  from  the 
Old  World  represent  the  most  degraded  state  of  such  public 
work.  Included  in  these  evil  customs  it  is  interesting  to 
note  the  existence  of  a  remnant  of  feudalism  in  the  forced 
labor  on  highways  which  at  one  time  and  another,  and  still 
generally  in  many  of  our  States,  is  commonly  demanded 
of  all  able-bodied  men  who  dwell  in  the  country.  This 
custom  is  sometimes  called  the  working  out  of  the  road 
tax,  a  term  which  denotes  a  system  whereby  the  people 
may  pay  a  definite  charge  either  in  money  or  in  labor.   In 


24  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

other  regions,  notably  in  Kentucky,  the  work  is  said  to  be 
done  by  the  "  militia/'  a  phrase  which  probably  denotes  the 
ancient  feudal  method  by  which  all  the  men  fit  for  war 
could  be  called  on  to  render  such  public  service. 

There  is  probably  no  other  feature  in  our  road  system 
which  has  so  far  served  to  maintain  the  low  state  of  our 
American  road-making  as  this  "corvee,"  or  forced-labor 
system  on  the  highway.  It  has  bred,  in  a  systematic 
manner,  a  shiftless  method  of  work ;  it  has  led  our  people 
to  look  upon  road-building  as  a  nuisance.  There  is  no 
situation  in  which  the  American  workman  makes  so  un- 
satisfactory an  appearance  as  when  he  is  endeavoring  to 
do  the  least  possible  amount  of  labor  which  is  to  count  as 
a  day's  work  on  the  highways  of  his  district. 

Although  the  working  out  of  the  road  tax  has  been 
abolished  in  perhaps  half  of  the  country,  the  method  is 
still  in  use  in  many  of  the  Western  and  in  nearly  all  of  the 
Southern  States.  There  is  a  singular  custom  which  is  fol- 
lowed by  the  road-masters  in  Virginia  and  some  other 
Southern  States,  who  have,  or  are  supposed  to  have,  the 
control  of  the  impressed  road  gangs.  It  consists  in  cutting 
with  an  ax  or  knife  three  vertical  lines  in  the  trees  from 
point  to  point  along  the  road,  these  usually  being  crossed 
by  horizontal  lines,  so  as  to  make  a  rude  sign  for  the 
Roman  numeral  III.  Although  there  is  no  tradition  as  to 
the  origin  of  this  usage,  its  wide  distribution  and  the  fact 
that  before  the  Revolutionary  War  the  main  roads  were 
known  as  the  king's  highways  makes  it  seem  likely  that 
the  marks  were  intended  to  signify  George  III ;  there  hav- 
ing been  no  successor  to  that  monarch  in  this  country, 
there  has  been  no  occasion  to  change  the  sign. 

In  the  present  condition  of  this  country  the  resources 
which  favor  distant  transportation  are  well  organized. 


5   a 


EARLY  AMERICAN  ROADS  27 

The  development  of  the  railway  and  interior  steamboat 
transportation  has  provided  for  these  needs  in  a  measni*e 
which  has  been  attained  only  in  some  of  the  richest  Eu- 
ropean states.  It  is  otherwise  with  the  ways  which  serve 
for  local  intercourse ;  these  have  been  so  far  neglected  that 
theii*  ill  condition  operates  as  a  distinct  check  on  the  social 
relations  upon  which  the  character  of  our  local  communi- 
ties intimately  depends.  The  political  life  of  our  common- 
wealths, as  well  as  their  economic  advance,  is  to  a  great 
extent  determined  by  the  readiness  mth  which  the  people 
obtain  that  association  with  one  another  which  leads  to 
the  development  of  a  public  spirit.  Important  as  are  the 
effects  of  good  acquaintance  in  the  communities  of  any 
state,  whatever  be  its  system  of  government,  they  are 
particularly  important  in  a  democracy ;  for  there  the  un- 
ending task  of  holding  fast  to  the  good  which  has  been 
won,  and  of  winning  gains  for  the  future,  is  to  be  effected 
only  by  means  of  an  intense  social  life  such  as  will  give 
the  able  men  of  each  neighborhood  an  opportunity  to  affect 
the  motives  of  their  weaker  fellow-citizens. 

The  reasons  above  given  shoidd  make  it  evident  that  the 
interest  of  a  democracy  in  good  roads  should  rest  on  a 
deeper  foundation  than  mere  commerce  or  commercial 
needs.  Account  should  be  taken  of  the  value  of  these  ways 
of  communication  to  a  people  from  the  point  of  view  of 
their  place  in  the  intellectual  development  of  their  commu- 
nities. Thus  viewed,  good  roads  wiU  be  seen  to  have  a 
very  important  relation  to  the  mechanism  of  a  democratic 
state. 

The  greatest  hindi-ances  which  have  beset  the  develop- 
ment of  American  roads  arise,  in  the  first  place,  from  our 
system  of  government,  which  has  not  provided  authorities 
competent  to  organize  and  control  the  methods  of  con- 


28 


AMEEICAN  HIGHWAYS 


structing  and  maintaining  roads  in  our  commonwealtlis, 
and,  in  tlie  second  place,  from  the  character  of  the  climate, 
topography,  soil,  and  underlying  rocks  within  the  limits  of 
the  United  States.  As  any  well-considered  movement  for 
the  betterment  of  our  ways  must  take  account  of  these 
difficulties,  we  shall  now  proceed  to  consider  them,  begin- 
ning first  with  those  of  a  natural  sort. 


A  load  of  hay  in  Normandy. 


CHAPTER  III 

EFFECT   OF   THE  CLIMATE 

Effect  of  the  under  earth  on  roads.     Influence  of  the  topography  on 
roads.     Effect  of  forests  on  roads 

AS  a  roadway  is  of  all  constructions  the  most  exposed 
J\.  to  the  action  of  the  weather,  the  climate  of  the  dis- 
trict in  which  it  lies  has  a  greater  effect  upon  it  than  upon 
any  other  class  of  buildings.  This  effect  is  exercised  by 
the  rainfall,  changes  in  temperature,  and  the  winds.  A 
secondary  influence,  arising  from  the  above-mentioned 
natural  conditions,  is  found  in  the  character  of  the  vegeta- 
tion, which  under  favorable  conditions  may  advantageously 
affect  a  road  by  covering  the  unused  portion  of  its  surface 
with  a  network  of  low- growing  plants,  such  as  the  grasses. 
Under  any  conditions  a  road  has  to  lie  open  to  the  rain. 
Where  this  comes  gently,  as  is  usually  the  case  in  Europe, 
it  may  not  wash  the  surface  of  a  well-graded  way  in  a 
serious  manner.  When,  however,  as  in  this  country,  the 
rainfall,  particularly  in  the  central  and  western  portions 
of  the  land,  often  comes  in  a  torrential  manner,  the  effect 
is,  even  on  well-constructed  roads,  to  wash  out  the  dust 
which  holds  the  stones  together  as  well  as  to  remove  the 
divided  portion  of  the  rock,  which  should  have  a  coating 
to  keep  the  wheels  and  the  shoes  of  horses  from  breaking 
the  stone  in  a  rapid  manner.     Thus  the  result  of  occa- 

29 


30  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

sional  heavy  rains  is  in  this  country  a  more  rapid  wearing 
of  the  road-bed  than  occurs  in  the  Old  World.  It  is 
doubtful,  indeed,  if  the  Roman  ways  woidd  have  survived 
in  this  land  in  the  manner  in  which  they  have  endured  in 
the  regions  where  they  were  built. 

In  almost  all  instances  the  ditches  on  either  side  of  a  road 
have  to  receive  a  large  share  of  water  which  flows  over  the 
surface  toward  the  way.  Where,  as  in  America,  the  rain- 
fall may  amount,  as  is  often  the  case,  to  an  inch  or  more  an 
hour  a  large  part  of  the  water,  especially  when  the  ground  is 
frozen,  flows  over  the  surface,  and  much  of  it  finds  its  way 
to  these  ditches.  As  will  be  noted  hereafter,  the  water- 
ways beside  roads  are  an  important  part  of  the  construc- 
tion. The  cost  of  their  provision  and  maintenance  is  on 
the  average  much  greater  with  us  than  in  European  lands. 
Furthermore,  it  is  essential  that  the  earth  beneath  a  Mac- 
adam way,  where  it  is  not  provided  with  a  pavement  foun- 
dation, should  be  kept  dry.  It  is  desirable,  indeed,  in  all 
cases  that  it  should  be  protected  from  the  invasion  of 
water.  The  expense  of  underdrainage,  such  as  is  here- 
after to  be  described,  is  exceptionally  great  in  the  case  of 
American  constructions. 

The  well-known  heaving  action  of  frost,  which  is  pro- 
portionate to  the  depth  to  which  it  enters  the  soil  and  to 
the  water  contained  therein,  is  always  a  menace  to  the 
preservation  of  a  roadway.  This  movement  not  only  dis- 
turbs the  whole  construction,  but  it  tends  to  force  up  the 
larger  stones  through  the  macadam  or  gravel,  so  that  they 
disturb  the  bed  in  their  ascent  and  encumber  the  way 
when  they  appear  at  the  surface.  In  the  Northern  States 
of  this  Union,  where  the  frost  often  enters  the  earth  to 
the  depth  of  three  feet  or  more,  the  effect  of  freezing  and 
thawing,  often  repeated  several  times  in  the  course  of  a 


EFFECT  OF  THE  CLIMATE  31 

winter,  is  exceedingly  injurious.  To  guard  against  it,  it 
is  necessary  to  provide  for  the  removal  of  the  water  to  a 
greater  depth  beneath  the  surface  than  is  required  on  the 
continent  of  Europe  or  in  Great  Britain. 

The  evils  arising  from  the-  long-continued  droughts 
which  are  so  common  in  America  are  felt  in  several  differ- 
ent ways.  Where  broken  stone  is  used  as  road  material 
it  is  held  together  by  the  cementing  action  of  the  dust 
which  lies  between  the  fragments.  Where  the  way  is 
traversed  by  heavy  wagons  it  almost  always  undergoes  a 
certain  breaking  up  of  the  bond.  This  is  restored  by  a 
recementation  process,  which  causes  the  dust  when  wetted 
once  again  to  bind.  It  thus  comes  about  that  a  road 
which  is  wetted  at  intervals,  say  no  greater  than  a  fort- 
night, will  remain  in  a  firm  state,  while,  when  subjected 
to  traffic  for  a  drought  of  a  month  or  more  in  duration, 
it  will  be  broken  into  a  mere  rubble.  A  conspicuous  in- 
stance of  this  action  came  under  the  observation  of  the 
writer  in  the  campaign  pt  1862  between  the  armies  of 
Bragg  and  Buell  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  It  was  a 
season  of  remarkable  drought,  little  or  no  rain  falling  for 
the  term  of  seventy  days.  During  this  time  the  Macadam 
roads  of  that  district,  which  ordinarily  are  in  an  excellent 
condition,  were  by  the  wagon  and  artiUery  trains  brought 
almost  to  a  state  of  ruin.  The  fragments  of  stone  which 
ordinarily  adhered  firmly  to  oue  another  were  converted 
into  pebbles,  which  ground  up  under  the  tread  of  the 
wheels.  It  was  not  until  after  the  great  rains  which  came 
on  the  night  of  the  battle  of  Perryville  that  these  roads 
began  to  return  to  a  fairly  passable  state.  Many  of  them, 
however,  were  so  injured  by  the  grinding  up  of  the  loose 
fragments  that  they  were  unserviceable  until  they  were  ■ 
recovered  with  broken  stone. 


32  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

The  effect  of  the  winds  on  roads  is  to  blow  away  the  pro- 
tecting covering  of  dust.  If  they  be  strong  the  action  may 
go  so  far  as  to  remove  the  cementing  material  from  be- 
tween the  exposed  crevices.  In  general  it  may  be  said 
that  the  wearing  of  a  road  increases  rapidly  with  the  speed 
and  continuity  of  the  winds  and  the  extent  to  which  they 
blow  in  times  of  drought.  The  strong  southwest  winds 
so  prevalent  in  this  country,  particularly  in  the  Mississippi 
valley  in  the  summer,  much  increase  the  cost  of  mainte- 
nance of  good  ways. 

In  a  moderately  humid  climate,  exempt  from  continu- 
ous summer  droughts,  creeping  plants,  nourished  by  the 
dust  from  the  roads,  which  in  most  cases  has  a  consider- 
able fertilizing  value,  take  hold  on  the  shoulders  and  sides 
of  the  way  in  such  a  manner  as  to  protect  those  exposed 
parts  from  washing  or  from  the  action  of  the  winds. 
Where  these  conditions  prevail  it  is  generally  practicable 
to  build  a  relatively  narrow  hardened  way  with  wide 
shoulders  on  either  side  on  to  which  the  passing  teams 
can  turn  out,  finding  there,  by  virtue  of  the  plant  covering, 
a  surface  so  firm  that  it  will  not  rut  from  an  occasional 
passage  of  wheels.  If,  however,  the  shoulders  are  over- 
dry,  as  they  are  sure  to  become  in  an  enduring  di'ought, 
the  plants  are  killed  and  the  surface  left  unprotected. 

The  result  of  the  above-mentioned  climatal  conditions 
is  to  make  the  construction  and  maintenance  of  good  high- 
ways a  matter  of  greater  cost  in  the  new  than  in  the  Old 
World.  The  conditions  in  the  two  realms  are  so  far  diverse 
that  we  need  to  be  careful  in  adopting  without  revision  the 
methods  which  have  been  successful  beyond  the  Atlantic. 
In  all  cases  these  methods  should  be  critically  examined 
with  reference  to  the  climatal  and  other  needs  of  this 
country. 


sosTON  college:  library 

CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS. 

EFFECT  OF  THE  CLIMATE  33 


EFFECT  OF  THE  UNDER  EARTH  ON  ROADS 

The  character  of  the  under  materials  of  a  country  pro- 
foundly affects  the  problem  of  road  construction  in  two 
ways :  as  concerns,  first,  the  nature  of  the  foundation,  and, 
second,  as  to  the  sources  of  supply  of  the  materials  which 
are  to  be  used  in  the  hardened  way  in  paving  gutters, 
and  in  drains.  Where  the  hardened  way  can  be  laid  upon 
a  base  which  holds  but  little  water,  so  that  it  is  not  liable 
to  become  soft  or  to  move  in  the  manner  of  loose  sand, 
the  problem  is  relatively  simple.  Where,  however,  as  is 
often  the  case,  the  foundation  is  of  a  more  or  less  plastic 
clay,  of  muck,  or  of  yielding  sand,  the  precautions  which 
the  road-master  has  to  take  add  much  to  the  cost  of  the 
construction.  In  general  it  may  be  said  that  the  difficulty 
arising  from  the  nature  of  the  underlying  materials  of  this 
country  adds  much  to  the  expense  of  building  good  roads. 
Wherever  the  soil  is  deep  and  therefore  of  a  high  order  of 
fertility,  and  from  the  fact  that  such  a  deep  soil  means  in 
all  cases  a  considerable  proportion  of  clay  and  a  ready 
penetration  of  water  into  it,  road-making  is  exceptionally 
costly  for  the  reason  that  some  provision  similar  to  the 
Telford  pavements  has  to  be  made  to  keep  the  surface 
coating  of  broken  stone  or  gravel  from  working  down 
into  the  bed.  It  may  be  said,  indeed,  that  the  natural  fer- 
tility of  the  land  adds  much  to  the  cost  which  has  to  be 
incurred  in  providing  highways,  by  giving  the  conditions 
which  bring  about  bad  foundations. 

INFLUENCE   OF   THE   TOPOGRAPHY   ON   ROADS 

The  surface  of  a  country,  the  relations  of  the  hills  and 
valleys  which  go  to  make  up  what  is  called  the  topography, 


34  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

profoundly  affects  the  cost  of  roads  and  requires  a  pecu- 
liar skill  in  planning  the  line  which  the  way  is  to  follow. 
It  is  desirable  that  the  line  adopted  should  have  a  suffi- 
cient grade  to  remove  the  water  from  the  surface  and 
ditches,  and  that  such  grades  should  be  so  varied  that 
the  draught  animals  may  not  have  an  unvaried  burden. 
Any  slope  beyond  that  required  for  the  removal  of  the 
water  is  a  hindrance  to  transportation  which  increases  at 
a  very  rapid  rate  with  the  steepening  of  the  declivities. 
It  is,  moreover,  in  a  high  measure  desirable  that  the  main 
way  should  be  so  placed  that  the  territory  which  it  serves 
shall,  as  far  as  possible,  have  the  auxiliary  ways  sloping 
toward  the  main  route.  Among  the  many  evils  brought 
about  by  the  lack  of  proper  engineering  skill  in  the  loca- 
tion of  American  roads,  their  ill  position  in  relation  to  the 
country  which  they  are  to  serve  is  perhaps  the  worst. 

In  planning  the  route  which  a  road  is  to  follow,  or  in 
remedying  by  changes  of  position  unfortunately  placed 
existing  ways,  it  is  necessary  to  take  into  account  the 
character  of  the  topography  of  the  district.  This  varies 
greatly  in  different  parts  of  this  country.  In  nearly  all 
the  region  which  has  been  in  recent  geological  times 
covered  by  a  glacial  sheet,  the  surface  of  the  land  has  a 
curiously  irregular  form.  While  the  main  valleys,  those 
which  were  formed  before  the  ice  invasion,  preserve  their 
outlines  in  a  general  way,  the  paths  of  the  small  streams 
and  the  table-lands  betAveen  them  have  been  covered  by 
irregularly  disposed  masses  of  debris  which  give  the  sur- 
face a  broken  character  which  requires  great  care  in 
placing  the  road  in  order  to  avoid  unnecessary  grades. 
Moreover,  in  this  part  of  the  land  the  underlying  mate- 
rials are  extremely  variable  in  their  nature,  sometimes 
being  very  clayey,  and  again  very  sandy,  and  it  is  there- 


EFFECT  OF  THE  CLIMATE  35 

fore  necessary  for  the  road-master  to  study  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  materials  on  which  the  road  is  to  be  founded. 

The  portions  of  this  country  which  were  affected  in  the 
manner  above  described  by  the  glacial  action  may  be 
denoted  as  follows.  Beginning  on  the  middle  portion  of 
the  Atlantic  coast  of  New  Jersey,  all  the  country  north 
of  that  line  and  its  continuation  to  the  westward  bears 
the  ice-mark.  In  its  western  continuation  the  southern 
limit  of  the  ice-sheet  extends  across  Pennsylvania  to  the 
head  waters  of  the  Susquehanna  and  the  Allegheny  rivers ; 
thence,  with  many  local  variations,  in  a  general  way  down 
the  northern  side  of  the  Ohio,  some  distance  north  of  that 
stream,  to  Cincinnati,  where  it  crosses  the  river,  barely 
entering  the  State  of  Kentucky  5  thence  westwardly 
through  Indiana  and  Illinois  to  the  Mississippi  River, 
and  along  a  much-varied  line  up  the  valley  of  the  Missouri 
to  the  far  West.  In  addition  to  the  great  field  lying  to 
the  north  of  the  above-described  line,  there  are  in  Colo- 
rado and  on  the  Pacific  slope  of  the  continent  various 
areas  which  in  a  less  considerable  manner  have  been  af- 
fected by  the  glaciers.  Throughout  the  glacial  field  above 
described,  though  in  a  varied  measure,  the  location  and 
foundation  of  roads  are  much  affected  by  the  irregular 
distribution  of  the  glacial  waste. 

South  of  the  regions  affected  by  the  last  glacial  period, 
aU  parts  of  our  country,  except  certain  limestone  districts 
where  "  sink-holes  "  occur,  exhibit  the  feature  of  continu- 
ous slopes  from  the  head  waters  of  the  streams  to  near 
the  level  of  the  sea.  Moreover,  in  this  part  of  the  realm 
the  underlying  earth  materials  which  may  affect  the  foun- 
dations of  a  road  are  much  more  uniform  in  their  charac- 
ter than  in  the  region  first  noted. 

While  in  a  glaciated  district  the  road-master  needs  care- 


36  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

fully  to  inform  himself  as  to  tlie  shape  of  a  country  which 
the  road  is  to  traverse,  so  that  he  may  take  advantage  of 
each  feature  in  relief  or  in  the  under  structure,  in  the  non- 
glaciated  district  he  may  in  general  plan  the  roads  so 
that  the  main  ways  pass  down  the  greater  valleys  or,  if 
they  be  not  readily  passable,  along  the  divides. 

In  adjusting  a  road  with  reference  to  the  topography 
and  the  underlying  conditions,  there  is,  as  has  been  noted 
by  any  student  of  roads,  an  exceeding  diversity  of  method. 
It  was  the  custom  of  the  Romans,  due  to  the  rude  forceful 
motive  which  they  brought  into  all  their  architecture,  to 
carry  their  ways  straight  across  the  country,  rarely  de- 
flecting for  any  but  absolutely  insuperable  obstacles. 
This  humor  curiously  returned  among  the  Puritans  of 
New  England,  who  appear  to  have  been  disposed  to  deal 
with  the  difficulties  of  the  earth  in  a  like  direct  manner. 
They  too  built  many  of  their  roads,  particularly  the  turn- 
pikes, straight  across  the  country  without  any  effort  to 
adjust  the  routes  to  the  topography.  With  this  exception, 
in  all  modern  road-making  a  great  and  increasing  advance 
has  been  effected  in  the  adjustment  of  the  ways  to  the 
surface.  This  end  has  been  most  completely  attained  by 
the  Swiss  road-builders,  who  have  given  us  routes  cross- 
ing their  mountains  which  are  masterpieces  of  adjustment 
so  contrived  that  the  transportation  may  be  effected  with 
combined  speed  and  ease. 

In  this  country,  although  the  discerning  observer  can 
often  note  the  work  of  masterful  road-makers  in  the  ad- 
justment of  ways,  the  results  almost  everywhere  show  a 
lack  of  the  contriving  motive  which  is  elsewhere  charac- 
teristic of  American  construction.  The  writer,  who  has 
noted  the  conditions  of  the  roads  in  many  parts  of  this 
country,  has  rarely  found,  in  a  region  of  varied  topography. 


EFFECT  OF   THE  CLIMATE  37 

any  stretch  of  five  miles  in  length  which  did  not  exhibit 
some  glaring  error  of  position  which  if  corrected  wonld 
have  materially  increased  the  value  of  the  way.  In  many 
cases  it  is  patent  that  the  wrong  placement  of  the  ronte 
has  been  due  to  the  influence  of  some  landowner  who  has 
secured  a  personal  advantage  at  the  cost  of  all  the  other 
folk  who  may  be  interested  in  the  route.  It  is  perhaps 
impossible  to  avoid  such  influences,  but  on  their  avoid- 
ance depends  the  rational  planning  of  our  roads. 

Supposing  that  a  road-master  has  at  his  discretion  to 
lay  out  a  way  or  to  remedy  the  defects  of  one  that  exists, 
the  following  method  of  procedure  may  be  recommended. 
If  possible  a  good  contour-map  of  the  region  should  be 
obtained :  one  which  will  exhibit,  by  lines  drawn  around 
the  hills  and  valleys,  the  place  of  water-levels,  say  at  the 
height  of  ten  or  twenty  feet,  one  above  the  other.  On 
such  a  map  a  project  for  a  route  may  be  devised  by  pro- 
visional lines  so  laid  as  to  escape  steep  grades,  at  the  same 
time  avoiding  excessive  length.  The  course  to  be  taken 
can,  in  a  general  way,  be  readily  computed  from  the  in- 
tervals between  the  levels  indicated  by  the  contom^s  and 
the  length  of  the  lines ;  i.e.,  the  length  of  the  proposed 
road  may  be  compared  in  any  one  of  several  easy  ways. 
In  this  work  it  is  necessary  to  take  account  of  the  present 
tillage  and  other  interests  of  man  which  relate  to  trans- 
portation. A  road  may  often  fitly  be  lengthened  by  many 
per  cent,  in  order  to  accommodate  the  existing  or  antici- 
pated travel.  Here,  as  in  much  other  work,  the  discretion 
of  the  road-master  has  to  come  in  in  a  way  for  which  no 
prescriptions  can  be  given.  It  may  be  said,  however,  that 
the  extension  of  farming  in  an  undeveloped  country,  the 
use  of  water-power,  the  opening  of  quarries  or  mines,  the 
probable  growth  of  towns,  all  have  to  be  taken  into  ac- 


38  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

count.  Even  more  difficult  to  reckon  is  the  use  of  the 
way  in  distant  transportation,  that  which  comes  to  it  from 
beyond  the  points  of  the  field  which  it  in  an  immediate 
way  serves. 

A  project  formed  in  the  manner  above  noted  should 
next  be  criticized  by  a  close  study  with  the  surveying  in- 
struments and  by  a  study  of  the  topography  in  reference 
to  dealing  with  the  water  which  is  likely  to  come  upon 
the  road  or  which  has  to  pass  under  it.  This  study  should 
be  extended  to  the  underlying  materials  so  that  a  com- 
putation may  be  made  as  to  the  need  of  costly  founda- 
tions. In  parts  of  New  England  roads  have  been  carried 
across  swampy  places  without  any  reckoning  as  to  the 
cost  of  maintaining  them  in  such  positions.  The  result 
is  that  many  of  them  have  continued  to  sink  into  the  soft 
material  until  very  costly  filhngs  have  been  made,  all  of 
which  could  have  been  avoided  by  a  slight  deflection  of 
the  way.  In  other  cases  patches  of  soft  clay,  such  as  are 
likely  to  be  found  in  glaciated  countries,  and  which  greatly 
increase  the  cost  of  building  a  good  road,  have  been 
traversed,  though  they  might  easily  have  been  avoided. 
Yet  further,  in  almost  aU  glaciated  districts  and  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  in  those  of  ordinary  topography,  a  good  road 
cannot  be  made  without  much  cutting  and  filling  in  order 
to  insure  reasonable  grades.  Care  should  be  taken  to  bring 
these  cuts  and  fills  into  such  relation  that  the  earth  which 
is  excavated  can  be  used  in  bettering  the  grades  by  filling. 
Moreover,  where  cuts  are  required  care  should  be  taken  to 
place  them  as  little  as  possible  on  steep  side-hills,  so  that 
the  continual  slipping  of  the  earth  down  the  slope  may  not 
prove  a  source  of  permanent  cost. 

Quite  as  important  as  the  adjustment  of  the  way  with 
reference  to  the  immediate  conditions  are  the  problems  re- 


EFFECT  OF  THE  CLIMATE  41 

lating  to  the  materials  which  can  be  used  in  the  construc- 
tion and  repau'  of  the  way,  as  well  as  the  other  expenses 
of  maintenance. 

As  will  be  further  noted  in  the  chapter  on  road  mate- 
rials, by  far  the  largest  part  of  the  expense  incurred  in 
bringing  an  existing  or  an  old  way  into  good  condition 
arises  from  the  cost  of  the  materials  used  in  hardening 
the  way.  This  expense  is  incurred  not  only  in  the  origi- 
nal construction,  but  in  the  constant  repau-s.  It  may  be 
estimated  that  at  the  end  of  fifteen  years  a  road,  suffi- 
ciently used  to  warrant  a  carefully  made  stone  or  gravel 
structure,  will  have  to  be  completely  renewed  by  repairs 
and  reconstructions.  Therefore  the  expense  of  obtaining 
the  materials  is  great,  and  has  to  be  considered  in  the 
choice  of  the  location.  In  a  country  of  varied  underlying 
rocks,  such  as  is  found  in  New  England,  in  the  greater 
part  of  the  Appalachian  district,  or  in  the  field  to  the 
westward  of  the  central  plain  of  the  continent,  it  will  often 
happen  that  a  slight  deviation  of  the  way  will  enable  the 
road-master  to  command  the  resources  for  building  and 
repairing  in  a  measure  not  possible  on  a  shorter  route. 

"Where,  as  in  a  large  part  of  this  country,— as,  for  in- 
stance, throughout  the  greater  portion  of  the  Mississippi 
valley,— the  rocks  lie  in  nearly  horizontal  attitudes,  it  is 
desirable  to  keep  the  road  location  so  far  as  possible  in  a 
position  such  that  the  immediately  underlying  rocks  may 
afford  the  most  suitable  road  material  of  the  country. 
"Where,  as  in  New  England,  New  Jersey,  and  in  many 
more  southern  parts  of  the  Appalachian  district,  the 
sources  of  supply  of  road  material  are  from  the  rocks 
commonly  known  as  trap,  it  is  very  desirable  that  the 
position  of  these  deposits  should  be  ascertained  before  the 
location  of  any  important  way  is  determined  on. 


42  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

An  analysis  of  the  location  of  American  roads,  such  as 
a  student  of  these  constructions  may  readily  make,  dis- 
closes two  general  methods  which  are  followed  in  laying 
out  these  ways.  In  the  one  an  effort  is  made  to  keep  the 
route  on  the  elevated  lands  between  the  main  streams. 
These  may  be  termed  divide  roads.  The  other  is  to  place 
the  ways  in  the  valleys.  As  between  these  two  rules  of  loca- 
tion it  may  be  said  that  the  divide  roads  have  in  general 
the  advantage  of  dry  foundations.  They,  moreover,  escape 
the  costs  of  dealing  with  streams  in  their  ordinary  state 
and  with  flood  waters.  They  can  in  many  cases  be  made 
more  dii'ect  between  chosen  points.  The  disadvantage  of 
such  locations  is  that,  unless  the  table-land  be  very  wide 
and  the  valleys  narrow,  a  large  part  of  the  transportation 
has  to  be  uphill  over  the  necessarily  poorer  roads  which 
lead  from  the  farms  to  the  main  way.  Moreover,  in  times 
of  drought  such  divide  roads  are  apt  to  become  excessively 
desiccated  and  to  lack  water-supply  for  beasts  of  burden. 
A  conspicuous  instance  of  this  occurred  in  the  before- 
mentioned  campaign  of  1862  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee, 
where  during  the  great  drought  many  of  the  main  high- 
ways, which  in  that  region  lie  usually  on  the  table-land 
divides,  so  far  lacked  water  that  it  was  often  necessary  to 
march  thirty  miles  or  more  from  the  direct  path  in  order 
to  obtain  a  supply  for  the  columns  of  troops. 

Valley  roads,  while  they  escape  the  disadvantages  above 
noted,  incur  those  of  bad  foundations,  of  much  bridging, 
and  of  injury  from  floods.  It  may  be  here  noted  that 
where  flood  waters,  even  of  very  slight  current,  pass  over 
a  macadamized  road,  they,  by  removing  the  cementing 
material, — an  effect  which  takes  place  to  the  depth  of  some 
inches  below  the  surface, — are  likely  to  reduce  the  way  to 
a  state  of  rubble,  which  will  not  recement  until  subjected 


EFFECT   OF  THE  CLIMATE  4=3 

to  careful  repair.  Even  the  tread  of  the  wheels,  which 
wiU  "bring  down"  newly  laid  broken  stone,  has  little 
effect  on  the  partly  rounded  bits  which  have  been  washed 
clear  of  the  cementing  material.  The  loss  of  their  angles 
which  takes  place  in  the  process  of  first  bedding  is  apt  to 
make  the  fragments  shear  under  the  tread  of  ordinary 
wagon-wheels,  which  otherwise  would  have  forced  them 
into  a  firm  state. 

The  foregoing  considerations  warrant  the  following 
statement  concerning  the  location  of  highways,  which, 
though  general  in  its  nature,  will  have  some  value  as  a 
guide  in  the  location  of  roads.  Where,  as  in  most  re- 
gions of  a  table-land  form,  the  valleys  are  narrow  and  the 
uplands  broad,  with  a  slight  fall  toward  the  canon-like 
seats  of  the  streams,  the  roads  had  best  be  organized  in  rela- 
tion to  the  divides,  leaving  the  tillage  areas  in  the  gorges 
to  bear  the  tax  of  the  difficult  transportation  to  the  up- 
land. On  the  other  hand,  where,  as  is  the  case  with  the 
greater  part  of  this  country,  the  divides  are  narrow  and 
the  greater  part  of  the  culture  is  adown  the  slopes  on 
either  side  from  them,  the  roads  had  best  be  planned  in 
the  bottoms  of  the  valleys  or,  if  they  are  much  subjected 
to  inundation,  on  the  sides  of  declivities  above  the  flood- 
plain. 

In  placing  the  roads  on  the  divides  it  is  often  good 
policy  to  avoid  straight  hues,  even  if  such  be  practica- 
ble, and  to  bend  the  road  downward  at  the  head  of  each 
considerable  vaUey,  so  as  to  minimize  the  cost  of  drawing 
freight  over  the  poorer  class  of  sideways.  If  carefully 
planned  the  grades  thus  brought  about  in  the  main  way 
win  not  be  greater  than  is  desirable  to  afford  relief  to  the 
draught  animals  from  the  unvaried  and  peculiarly  destruc- 
tive effect  arising  from  drawing  a  burden  on  a  level  way. 


44  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

In  valley  roads  abundant  experience  shows  that  where 
possible  road  constructions  on  the  alluvial  plain  should  be 
avoided,  for  on  that  kind  of  ground  the  foundations  are 
almost  invariably  bad.  The  gorges  cut  by  the  streams  are 
usually  wide  and  afford  a  poor  base  for  bridges,  and  the 
way  is  remote  from  road-building  stones,  except  they  be 
brought  in  by  railways.  The  best  place  for  such  a  road 
is  where  the  hill  slopes  come  to  the  margin  of  the  alluvial 
plain.  In  such  positions  the  under  earth  is  generally  oc- 
cupied by  talus  material,  a  rubbly  mass  which  has  worked 
down  from  the  hills  and  which  affords  an  excellent  foun- 
dation. Moreover,  in  this  position  the  stream  gorges  are 
usually  narrow  and  not  very  deep.  The  water  which 
courses  in  them  has  a  high  speed,  so  that  a  relatively 
small  way  will  afford  it  passage. 

EFFECT  OF  FORESTS   ON   ROADS 

The  effect  of  forests  on  the  construction  and  mainte- 
nance of  roads  is  considerable.  Where  these  woods  are 
deeply  rooted  it  is  necessary  to  exercise  a  considerable 
amount  of  care  in  removing  the  woody  material,  not  only 
the  crowns  and  tap-roots,  but  also  those  of  any  size  which 
penetrate  downward,  and  this  for  the  reason  that  the 
decay  of  the  remains  of  the  tree  is  apt  to  bring  about 
harmful  settlements  of  the  foundation.  The  cost  in  gen- 
eral of  carrying  a  road  through  thick  woods  is,  so  far  as 
the  preparation  of  the  bed  is  concerned,  at  least  twice  as 
great  as  where  it  traverses  an  open  countr}^ 

The  effect  of  a  timber  belt  on  either  side  of  a  road  is 
sometimes  to  necessitate  more  careful  drainage  to  insure 
the  dryness  of  the  subway.  Where  the  hardened  part  of 
the  construction  is  made  of  gravel  the  influence  of  the 


EFFECT   OF  THE  CLIMATE  45 

shade  and  of  a  plentiful  contribution  of  fallen  leaves  is  to 
preserve  the  layer  from  the  excessive  dryness  which  is 
likely  rapidly  to  desiccate  the  surface  of  the  wheelway. 
Moreover,  the  covering  of  leaves  affords  some  protection 
against  the  impact  of  tires  and  hoofs,  while  the  result  of 
the  decay  of  vegetable  matter  is  to  favor  the  cementation 
of  the  bed.  In  a  less  degree  the  shelter  of  a  wood  or  of 
thick  plantations  on  either  side  of  the  road,  even  that 
which  is  afforded  by  the  ordinary  spaced  trees  which  are 
commonly  planted  beside  ways,  is  helpful  to  Macadam 
roads.  Trees  also  diminish  the  ill  effects  of  winds,  retain- 
ing the  dust  on  the  road  in  a  way  that  it  would  not  be 
kept  there  if  the  road  lies  quite  open  to  the  blast.  On 
these  economic  accounts,  as  well  as  for  the  grace  which 
plantations  afford,  it  is  advisable  to  keep  a  way  tolerably 
shaded,  at  least  in  such  a  climate  as  exists  in  almost  all 
parts  of  the  United  States.  Further  consideration  of  this 
matter  will  be  given  in  the  pages  devoted  to  the  adorn- 
ment of  roads. 


CHAPTER  IV 

NATUEE  AND  DISTRIBUTION  OF  EOAD  MATERIALS  AND 
THEIR  METHODS  OF  USE 

Farm  roads.  Neighborhood  roads.  Main  highways.  Road-making 
materials  in  general.  Trappean  rocks.  Granitic  rocks.  Quartz- 
ites.  Limestones.  Cherts.  Clay  slates.  Gravels.  Glacial 
gravels.  Stream  gravels.  Boulder  deposits.  Conditions  of 
glacial  deposits.  Gravels  of  the  Southern  States.  Phosphate 
nodules.     Shell  beds.     Paving-brick  clays 

FROM  the  point  of  view  which  is  now  to  be  taken  roads 
may  be  divided  into  four  groups,  according  to  the 
amount  of  traffic  which  they  are  ordinarily  called  on  to 
bear.  The  lowest  of  these  grades  may  be  termed  farm 
roads,  which  cannot  be  the  objects  of  much  expenditure. 
Next  are  the  public  ways  which  serve  limited  districts  and 
which,  though  the  subject  of  municipal  care,  cannot  be 
made  in  a  very  costly  manner.  The  third  group  are  the 
main  arteries  of  a  country  district  which  serve  for  inter- 
communication between  distant  points.  The  fourth  group 
includes  the  costliest,  though  the  least  common— the  great 
ways  which  lead  to  great  commercial  centers  and  merge 
into  ordinary  city  streets,  which  streets  are  not  considered 
in  this  writing.  The  materials  to  be  used  on  these  several 
classes  of  ways  necessarily  differ. 

46 


ROAD  MATERIALS  47 


FARM   ROADS 


On  the  farm  roads  the  means  for  construction  and  re- 
pair have  naturally  to  be  sought  near  at  hand.  It  is  not 
practicable  to  spend  much  money  in  preparing  them  for  use. 
It  is  not  usually  possible  to  incur  much  expense  in  drain- 
age. In  farm  roads,  because  of  the  fact  that  it  is  rarely 
practicable  to  keep  the  surface  in  a  smooth  state,  it  is  desir- 
able carefully  to  consider  the  matter  of  grades  and  to  main- 
tain the  surface  in  such  a  condition  that  it  will  not  rut  to 
any  depth.  Where  a  stone  fit  for  road-making  in  the 
manner  of  Macadam  can  be  had  at  small  cost,  it  will  gen- 
erally be  found  profitable  to  cover  the  main  farm  ways 
with  such  material  to  the  depth  of  six  inches  and  to  the 
width  of  eight  feet.  When  this  cannot  be  done  and 
gravel  is  obtainable,  it  should  be  used  to  the  depth  of 
eight  or  ten  inches,  the  material,  if  possible,  being  first 
screened  when  dry,  so  as  to  separate  the  clayey  matter 
which  it  may  contain.  Where  neither  of  these  resources 
can  be  had,  the  only  protection  to  be  obtained  is  that  from 
some  form  of  vegetable  matter. 

It  is  easy  to  note,  where  a  wagon  passes  over  an  old  sod, 
that  the  wheels  are  upborne  in  a  tolerably  perfect  way  on 
the  first  passage  of  the  vehicle.  Thus  a  heavy  wagon-load 
of  hay  may  be  drawn  over  an  ordinary  meadow,  leaving 
so  little  imprint  that  it  will  not  be  visible  the  next  season. 
The  fact  is  that,  until  broken  up  by  the  repeated  tread  of 
the  wheels,  a  thick  coating  of  sod  affords  a  sufficient  sup- 
port for  a  tolerably  heavy  vehicle.  It  is  possible  on  many 
farm  ways  to  make  use  of  such  a  sod  as  a  road  covering. 
Where  ruts  form  to  any  depth  they  can  be  closed  by  cut- 
ting a  wedge-shaped  section  from  the  sod  on  either  side, 
which  has  commonly  been  forced  up  above  the  trough,  so 


48  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

that  the  channel  may  be  closed.  If  this  is  done  in  the 
springtime,  the  detached  sods  rammed  into  place,  and  the 
surface  strewn  with  any  fertilizer,  the  effect  is  quickly  to 
restore  the  turf.  This  protection  will  not  endure  a  large 
amount  of  traffic,  but,  except  in  very  dry  regions,  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  method  has  been  proved  by  experiments 
which  the  writer  has  made. 

If  the  farm  roads  be  in  a  clayey  district  the  ruts  may 
advantageously  be  filled  with  gravel  without  any  effort  to 
cover  the  whole  surface  of  the  road.  Broken  stone  may 
also  be  made  to  serve  the  same  purpose,  but  it  should  be 
composed  of  relatively  small  pieces,  preferably  none  over 
two  inches  in  diameter.  The  filling  should  be  done  in  dry 
weather  and,  if  possible,  the  mass  should  be  rolled  down 
by  means  of  a  broad-tired  wagon  carrying  a  heavy  load. 
Although  this  work  had  best  not  be  done  when  the  roads 
are  muddy,  for  the  reason  that  the  stone  will  churn  and  so 
lose  its  binding  property,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  mass 
should,  if  possible,  be  watered  before  rolling  in  the  manner 
above  described.  The  stone  may  be  put  on  in  dry  weather 
and  rolled  after  the  first  shower,  thus  saving  the  cost  of 
artificial  watering.  If  the  rut  be  more  than  four  inches 
in  depth  it  is  best  that  the  stone  should  be  put  in  as  two 
successively  applied  layers,  the  lower  being  rolled  before 
the  second  is  placed  upon  it. 

Where  stone  is  accessible  on  a  farm,  and  well-built  roads 
are  out  of  the  question  because  of  their  cost,  the  ways  may 
be  cheaply  bettered,  if  not  made  good,  by  plowing  and 
scraping  the  track  to  the  depth  of  six  or  eight  inches  and  to 
the  width  of  eight  feet,  filling  the  trench  with  large  stone 
to  the  depth  of  about  six  inches.  This  layer  should  be 
roughly  compacted  with  a  paver's  rammer.  On  top  of 
this  layer  other  stone  should  be  placed  in  succession,  the 


ROAD  MATERIALS  49 

pieces  being  broken  with  the  hammer  or  sledge.  As  the 
amount  of  ^'fines''  or  dust  thus  produced  is  insufficient 
to  cement  the  bits  together,  gravel  to  serve  as  a  "  binder  " 
should  be  sought  for.  A  layer  of  this  material  about  an 
inch  in  thickness  may  be  laid  on  the  surface.  The  use  of 
clay  for  this  purpose  should  be  avoided.  If  the  rock  be 
a  limestone  it  will  cement  tolerably  well  without  any  bind- 
ing other  than  that  which  will  soon  be  provided  by  the 
action  of  the  wheels. 

In  clayey  soil  the  above-described  plan  should  include 
cross-drains  at  the  lowest  points  so  arranged  as  to  keep 
the  water  from  the  foundation  of  the  road.  Care  should 
be  taken  that  the  water  does  not  flow  for  any  distance  in 
the  road.  As  a  regular  crown  is  not  attainable  in  such  a 
rough-built  way,  the  checking  of  the  flow  wiU  have  to  be 
accomplished  by  cross-ridges  after  the  plan  of  the  Yankee 
"  thank-you-ma'ams."  These  must  not  be  made  sharp- 
crested  or  the  road  will  inevitably  go  to  pieces  on  their 
summits.  For  a  height  of  one  foot  they  shoidd  have  a 
cross-section  of  about  ten  feet. 

In  regions  where  neither  stone  nor  gravel  can  be  ob- 
tained, especially  where  the  earth  is  very  sandy,  as  on 
Cape  Cod,  there  are  two  other  ways  in  which  the  cheaper 
class  of  roads,  particularly  those  for  farm  use,  may  be 
benefited.  One  of  these,  more  or  less  in  use  in  south- 
eastern Massachusetts,  is  to  cover  the  road  with  turfy  ma- 
terial, preferably  that  composed  of  the  roots  of  huckleberry 
plants  and  similar  low-growing  bushy  vegetation.  In 
practice  the  best  method  is  to  cut  these  sods  into  strips 
about  eight  inches  wide,  applying  them  in  a  vertical  posi- 
tion somewhat  in  the  manner  of  paving-bricks,  pushing 
the  sheets  close  against  one  another.  A  road  thus  made, 
though  by  no  means  a  first-class  way,  may  be  tolerably 


50  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

smooth  and  moderately  enduring.  In  a  similar  manner 
partly  decayed  leaves  and,  indeed,  any  vegetable  fiber, 
such  as  sod,  may  be  incorporated  with  the  loose  earth  to 
the  great  advantage  of  the  road.  The  writer  has  seen 
the  streets  of  a  town  in  northern  Wisconsin  brought  from 
an  impassable  to  an  excellent,  though  temporary,  condi- 
tion of  repair  by  covering  the  whole  surface  with  a  layer 
of  shredded  wood,  commonly  known  to  upholsterers  as 
"  excelsior,"  to  the  depth  of  ten  or  twelve  inches.  The  result 
was  a  springy  road,  which,  with  the  addition  of  a  little 
clay  or  even  that  brought  in  on  the  wheels  of  wagons, 
speedily  formed  in  tolerably  smooth,  elastic  pavements.  It 
was  stated  that  such  a  construction  would  prove  service- 
able for  a  term  of  five  or  six  years.  Such  a  road  covering 
would  be  objectionable  in  the  streets  of  the  town,  for  the 
reason  that  it  would  soon  become,  from  the  dung  of  horses 
and  cattle,  a  mere  hotbed  for  the  development  of  germs. 
It  is  possible,  however,  that  it  may  advantageous^  be  used 
in  some  districts  where  nature  has  provided  no  other  re- 
source. 

NEIGHBORHOOD   ROADS 

The  ways  of  the  second  order,  those  which  the  French 
call  vicinal  routes,  generally  requu'e,  because  of  the  in- 
creased traffic,  much  more  extended  care  than  farm  ways. 
Where  suitable  broken  stone  for  road-making  can  be 
found  a  careful  reckoning  shows  that  it  is,  considering 
the  costs  of  repair,  often  advantageous  to  build  these 
roads  in  the  Macadam  manner,  using  the  Telford  founda- 
tion where  such  may  be  necessary.  If  the  foundation  be 
very  sandy,  unless  the  sand  has  a  somewhat  cemented 
character,  it  is  well  to  provide  against  the  mixing  of  the 
broken  stone  with  the  loose  underlying  material  by  some 


ROAD  MATERIALS  51 

one  of  several  devices.  Where  possible  this  end  can  be 
attained  by  bringing  the  way  into  a  grassed  state.  Where 
the  road  is  of  suitable  form  and  grass-covered  the  natural 
foundation  should  not  be  disturbed  by  the  stone  that  is 
to  be  placed  on  the  top  of  it.  The  writer  has  found  that 
where  the  stone  is  to  go  upon  loose  sand  it  is  economical, 
after  shaping  the  sand  to  the  curve  of  the  road,  in  the 
manner  indicated  in  the  chapter  on  road-making,  to  cover 
the  bed  with  one  thickness  of  cheese-cloth,  such  as  may 
be  had  for  not  more  than  four  cents  a  square  yard.  If 
carefully  strewn  upon  this  cloth,  broken  stone  will  not  cut 
it  through,  and  the  mass  may  be  brought  into  position  by 
a  roller  in  the  usual  manner  of  making  Macadam  roads. 
On  the  neighborhood  roads  here  under  consideration  it 
is  not  usually  desirable  to  have  the  broken-stone  covering 
more  than  eight  feet  in  width,  pains  being  taken  to  pro- 
vide intervisible  turnout  points  where  vehicles  may  pass 
each  other.  If  a  road  has  only  the  ordinary  traf&c  of  an 
agricultural  district,  the  aggregate  of  teams  passing  does 
not  usually  exceed  forty  in  a  day.  Under  these  conditions, 
a  narrow  road,  such  as  is  above  described,  will  well  serve 
the  needs.  No  serious  inconvenience  wiU  be  found  from 
the  narrowing  of  the  way,  save  that  in  the  night  the  drivers 
of  wagons  may  not  be  able  to  perceive  each  other  at  a  suf- 
ficient distance  to  make  sure  of  a  turnout  place. 

Next  in  value  to  broken  stone  as  a  material  to  be  used 
on  neighborhood  roads  is  gravel  or  natural  broken  stone, 
the  fragments  of  which  have  been  rounded  by  water. 
Where  a  good  "binding  gravel"  can  be  found,  one  that 
binds  because  the  materials  tend  to  adhere  together 
through  the  presence  of  iron,  lime,  or  other  cementing 
material,  good  ways  may  be  built  of  it.  As  before  noted, 
the  material  should  be  screened.     It  should  be  placed  in 


52  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

a  layer  not  less  than  eiglit,  and  preferably  ten,  inches  thick. 
It  should  be  given  close  attention  in  the  matter  of  repairs, 
which  it  needs  much  oftener  than  a  way  of  broken  stone. 
In  making  such  gravel  roads  the  roller  is  unnecessary. 
After  the  surface  has  been  brought  into  form,  the  gravel 
may  be  trusted  to  come  into  a  firm  state  by  the  action  of 
wheels.  It  is  in  certain  cases  desirable,  on  such  a  road, 
to  sow  in  grass  the  parts  not  continually  trodden,  with  the 
addition  of  fertilizing  material  to  insure  swift  growth; 
and  this  for  the  reason  that  such  vegetation  as  may  sur- 
vive the  effects  of  travel  will  serve  to  prevent  the  blow- 
ing of  the  dust  and  also  to  contribute  vegetable  matter, 
which,  by  its  decay,  helps  in  the  process  of  cementation 
through  the  chemical  changes  it  produces  in  the  stony 
matter. 

MAIN    HIGHWAYS 

The  main  ways  of  a  country  district  should,  wherever 
conveniently  possible,  be  made  of  broken  stone  in  the 
manner  of  Macadam.  As  will  be  set  forth  in  more  detail 
in  the  chapters  on  the  process  of  road-building,  such  roads 
require  a  hardened  way,  which  cannot  weU  be  less  than 
twelve  feet  in  width  and  usually  does  not  need  to  be  more 
than  fifteen  feet  wide.  On  such  a  road  it  may  be  safely 
estimated  that  the  amount  of  broken  stone  required  will 
vary  according  to  the  weight  of  material,  which  differs, 
in  various  species  of  rocks  and  according  to  the  depth 
which  it  may  be  necessary  to  use,  from  twenty-two  to 
thirty-two  hundred  tons.  (See  Appendix  A.)  On  the 
narrower  hardened  ways  recommended  for  the  neighbor- 
hood roads  the  amount  of  the  stone  used  need  not  exceed 
about  one  half  these  quantities. 

On  the  highest- grade  country  roads,  those  which  im- 


ROAD  MATERIALS  53 

mediately  connect  with  the  great  arteries  of  cities,  pave- 
ments made  of  broken  stone  are  apt  to  prove  insufficiently 
enduring  for  heavy  traffic.  In  these  cases  it  is  often  neces- 
sary, or  at  least  cheaper,  to  pave  the  road  with  stone  blocks. 
In  such  instances  the  road  may,  even  if  it  be  in  the  country, 
be  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  city  streets.  As  such  it  is  only 
mentioned  here  to  show  the  classes  of  road  materials,  the 
distribution  of  which  we  have  shortly  to  consider.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  gravel  and  stone  above  described  there  are  cer- 
tain parts  of  this  country  on  the  seaboard  where  oyster- 
shells  or  similar  materials  may  be  used  in  road-making. 
These  materials  are,  however,  limited  to  the  coast  belt.  They 
wiU  receive  but  incidental  mention  in  this  chapter. 

The  brief  statement  concerning  road  construction,  so  far 
as  the  materials  are  concerned,  which  is  given  in  the  fore- 
going paragraphs,  makes  it  clear  that  the  quantity  of  these 
substances  required  in  the  construction  and  maintenance 
of  the  roads  in  any  cultivated  district  is  very  great.  Thus 
on  the  main  ways  of  the  small  State  of  Massachusetts, 
which  in  its  eight  thousand  miles  of  area  has  about  twenty- 
two  hundred  miles  of  road  deemed  of  sufficient  importance 
to  be  reckoned  as  worthy  of  care  by  the  commonwealth, 
the  amount  of  stone  annually  needed  to  keep  the  routes 
in  good  order  may  be  roughly  estimated  at  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  tons.  When  the  culture  of  this 
country  becomes  organized  to  the  plane  attained  in  France, 
it  seems  not  unlikely  that  the  amount  of  road-making 
stone  required  each  year  will  exceed  one  hundred  mUlion 
tons.  It  is  therefore  evident  that  the  question  as  to  the 
source  of  supply  of  these  materials  and  their  relative 
values  is  a  matter  of  national  importance.  We  wiU  there- 
fore now  proceed  to  take  account  of  the  nature  and  distri- 
bution of  these  road-making  materials. 


54  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 


ROAD-MAKING  IMATERIALS  IN  GENERAL 

Considering  as  of  first  importance  the  relative  value  of 
different  species  of  rock  which  may  be  used  in  road-mak- 
ing, we  will  first  take  account  of  these  variations  in  quality 
and  then  briefly  set  forth  the  geographical  distribution  of 
the  various  kinds. 

In  road-making  in  the  modern  practice  we  have  to  rest 
our  work  on  the  observation,  which  we  mainty  owe  to 
Macadam,  that  broken  stone  when  subjected  to  great  pres- 
sure, as  by  the  wheels  of  heavily  laden  wagons  or  steam- 
rollers, becomes  compacted.  Macadam  and  the  other  en- 
gineers of  his  day  gave  us  no  account  as  to  the  nature  of 
the  process  by  which  the  fragments  of  stone  were  firmly 
bound  together.  The  early  engineers  appear  to  have  sup- 
posed that  the  bits  were  entangled  with  or  in  a  way  felted 
the  one  to  the  other.  The  writer,  in  connection  with  the 
work  of  the  Massachusetts  Highway  Commission,  and 
from  the  experiments  made  in  the  laboratory  of  highway 
engineering  in  the  Lawrence  Scientific  School  of  Harvard 
University,  has  become  convinced  that  this  process  of 
cementation  which  gives  solidity  to  the  Macadam  road  is 
mainly  due  to,  and  to  be  measured  by,  the  energy  of  cem- 
entation of  the  dust  on  the  broken  stone,  either  that 
made  in  crushing  the  material  before  it  is  applied  to 
the  way  or  that  produced  by  the  rubbing  of  the  bits  to- 
gether, which  is  brought  about  by  the  action  of  the  roller 
or  of  wagon- wheels ;  furthermore,  that  the  binding  action 
is,  as  to  its  value,  determined  not  only  by  the  intensity 
with  which  the  particles  hold  together  when  first  set,  but 
by  the  extent  to  which  this  dust  may  recement  when  broken 
up  by  the  wheels,  after  it  has  been  watered  either  artifi- 
cially or  by  the  occasional  rains.    To  this  quality  of  the 


EOAD  MATERIALS  55 

dust  wliich  serves  to  bind  the  stones  together  we  have  to 
attribute  the  greater  part  of  the  value  which  is  obtained 
by  the  broken-stone  method  of  construction.  Close  to  it 
in  importance  is  the  resistance  which  the  separate  bits 
afford  to  the  crushing  action  of  the  wheels.  Although 
the  dust  which  naturally  accumulates,  and  which  should 
be  retained  to  a  moderate  thickness  on  the  surface  of  the 
Macadam  way,  receives  much  of  the  impact  of  the  wheels 
and  feet  of  carriages  and  horses,  the  principal  resistance 
is  found  in  the  strength  of  the  separate  bits  which  he  next 
the  surface  on  the  hardened  way.  If  these  bits  crumble 
too  readily,  the  road  becomes  a  dust  factory.  A  large  part 
of  the  fine  material  is  inevitably  swept  away  by  the  rains 
and  winds,  or  has  to  be  removed  by  scrapers  to  keep  the 
road  in  reasonably  good  condition  in  wet  weather.  There- 
fore we  see  that  there  are  two  qualities  needed  in  a  road-mak- 
ing stone :  the  dust  must  have  a  high  cementing  and  rece- 
menting  quality,  and  the  larger  fragments  must  be  tough  so 
that  they  may  not  be  shattered  by  blows  inflicted  on  them. 

Experience  in  this  country  shows  that  the  road-building 
materials  which  are  generally  and  extensively  available 
may  be,  as  regards  their  useful  qualities,  placed  in  a  series 
indicating  the  relative  values  in  the  order  shown  in  the 
table,  where  the  uppermost  is  the  best. 

Trap. 

Syenite. 

Granite. 

Chert. 

Limestone  (non-crystalline). 

Mica  schist. 

Quartz. 

Although  all  the  above-mentioned  stones  vary  greatly 
in  quality,  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  the  table  as  given  has 


56  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

no  more  than  a  very  general  value,  it  is  clear  that  the  first 
in  order  of  utility  is  the  group  of  volcanic  rocks  appear- 
ing in  the  form  of  dark-colored,  massive  stones,  commonly 
known  by  the  names  of  trap  or  basalt,  terms  which  include 
a  number  of  rock  species  which  are  discriminated  by  pet- 
rographers,  but  which  cannot  be  separately  treated  ex- 
cept in  a  recondite  way. 

TRAPPEAN   ROCKS 

It  is  characteristic  of  all  the  trappean  rocks  that  they 
have  once  been  fluid  from  heat  and  while  in  that  state 
have  been  injected  into  fissui-es  of  the  rocks,  through 
which  they  have  found  their  way  toward  the  present  sur- 
face of  the  country.  Only  in  rare  cases  have  they  actually 
passed  upward  to  the  surface  of  the  earth  toward  which 
they  moved  j  their  motion  was  arrested  in  the  lower  levels 
of  the  rocks  to  which  the  sm-face  has  been  brought  down 
by  the  agents  of  atmospheric  decay.  The  result  of  their 
consolidation  under  the  conditions  of  pressure  in  which 
they  cooled  has  caused  these  originally  molten  materials 
to  be  very  compact,  a  state  which  is  favored  also  by  their 
chemical  composition.  This  causes  the  materials  to  be 
very  sohd  and  elastic.  They  generally  resist  decay  in  such 
a  manner  that  they  often  project  above  the  surface,  while 
the  softer  rocks  on  either  side  have  been  worn  down. 

The  trappean  rocks  of  this  country  suitable  for  road- 
building  are  plentifully  developed  in  the  greater  part  of 
New  England,  except  in  the  northern  portion  of  Maine. 
In  this  field  they  are  particularly  abundant  and  of  the  best 
quality  in  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  south  of  the  Ver- 
mont and  New  Hampshire  line,  and  on  the  shore  between 
Boston  and  Eastport.     In  the  well-settled  portions  of  New 


ROAD  MATERIALS  57 

England  there  is  probably  no  place  which  is  more  than 
sixty  miles  distant  from  extensive  bodies  of  trap  of  the 
best  quality  for  road-making. 

In  the  upland  district  of  New  Jersey  and  the  neighbor- 
ing portions  of  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  which  lie 
within  the  belt  of  old  rocks  which  forms  the  core  of  the 
Appalachian  system  of  mountains^  traps  also  abound ;  but 
the  valley  of  the  Hudson  intermediate  between  these  two 
fields  is,  except  in  its  lower  parts  about  the  Palisades,  in- 
adequately provided  with  this  class  of  road-making  ma- 
terials. The  best  of  the  New  Jersey  traps,  like  those  of 
the  Connecticut  valley,  have  broken  through  the  Jura- 
Trias  red  sandstone,  occasionally  appearing  as  the  remains 
of  lava  sheets  which  poured  forth  through  the  crevices 
and  spread  out  on  the  floor  of  the  ancient  water-basins  of 
the  districts.  These  sheets,  which  by  the  uptilting  of  the 
rocks  have  often  been  put  in  very  advantageous  positions 
for  working,  commonly  appear  as  cliff-like  escarpments 
which  can  be  very  easily  quarried. 

South  of  the  Potomac  the  available  trappean  rocks  are 
limited  to  the  central  mountainous  axis  of  the  Blue  Eidge 
and  to  the  Piedmont  country  on  the  east.  In  this  Pied- 
mont district  wherever  the  red  sandstones,  such  as  are 
found  in  Connecticut  and  New  Jersey,  exist,  there  are 
occasional  dikes,  so  far  as  observed,  of  very  small  size. 
The  writer  has  noted  that  these  dikes  are  particularly 
abundant,  though  of  limited  area,  in  what  is  commonly 
known  as  the  Richmond  basin,  the  field  whence  the  coal 
of  that  district  is  obtained.  As  yet  the  progress  of  geo- 
logical work  has  not  revealed  the  position  of  many  trap 
deposits  in  the  Blue  Eidge  district  of  the  Appalachians 
south  of  the  James  River,  but  doubtless  such  will  be  de- 
veloped by  a  careful  study  of  that  region. 


58  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

West  of  the  Appalachian  Mountains  and  thence  to  the 
Mississippi  dikes  are  exceedingly  rare,  two  or  three  only 
having  been  described  in  that  realm,  none  of  which  as  yet 
aif  ord  much  promise  as  sources  of  road-making  materials. 
In  the  northern  peninsula  of  Michigan  and  the  neighbor- 
ing portions  of  the  mainland,— indeed,  all  about  the  basin 
of  that  great  lake,— there  are  abundant  dikes  which,  though 
not  as  yet  used  as  sources  of  road-making  materials,  are 
likely  in  the  future  to  be  extensively  drawn  upon  for  the 
supply  of  broken  stone  in  the  region  about  our  inland  seas. 

West  of  the  Mississippi  there  exist,  in  southern  Mis- 
souri, Arkansas,  the  Indian  Territory,  and  at  several 
points  in  central  Texas,  sparsely  scattered  but  valuable 
volcanic  rocks  of  a  trappean  nature.  Of  the  remainder, 
the  Western  plain  district,  it  may  be  said  that  dike  stones 
are  essentially  wanting.  In  the  Rocky  Mountains  and 
westward  to  the  Pacific  they  again  abound,  together  with 
the  kindred  lava  sheets  which  often  afford  nearly  as  good 
road  materials  as  do  the  dike  stones.  As  a  whole.  North 
America  is  less  well  provided  with  this  group  of  volcanic 
rocks,  the  best  for  road-making,  than  is  the  continent  of 
Europe,  where  in  every  region,  except  on  the  great  north- 
ern plain,  such  rocks  are  of  frequent  occurrence  and  so 
placed  that  they  can  usually  be  cheaply  transported  by 
railways. 

GRANITIC   ROCKS 

Next  in  value  to  the  trappean  rocks  we  may  place  those 
commonly  known  as  granites,  including  the  species  of  that 
name,  the  syenites,  and  the  harder  gneisses.  The  distri- 
bution of  these  materials  is,  unfortunately,  in  a  general 
way  the  same  as  that  of  the  traps.  In  common  with  the 
last-named  group,  they  have  in  most  cases  been  subjected 


KOAD  MATERIALS  59 

to  the  heating  which  has  permitted  them  to  crystallize, 
and  their  chemical  constitution  insures  a  certain  measure 
of  cementing  value.  Between  the  traps  and  granites  about 
one  third  of  the  area  of  the  United  States  is  fairly  well 
provided  with  road-making  stones.  These  materials  may 
be  expected  either  to  lie  immediately  contiguous  to  the 
ways,  or  to  be  within  a  few  score  miles  of  railway  trans- 
portation. There  remains,  however,  the  Great  Southern 
Plain,  extending  from  New  York  to  southern  Texas,  and 
the  broad  lands  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  which  are  in 
general  too  remote  from  the  ancient  crystalline  rocks  to 
permit  the  supply  of  broken  stone  to  be  drawn  by  railway 
or  conveyed  by  water  transportation.  In  these  districts, 
as  in  many  other  as  considerable  areas,  recoui'se  must  be 
had,  even  in  the  case  of  the  main  ways,  to  other  good  but 
more  widely  distributed  materials.  These  are  in  general 
sedimentary  rocks,  such  as  quartzites,  limestones,  or  the 
iron  ores  they  contain,  and  the  gravels. 

QUARTZITES 

The  rocks  known  as  quartzites,  which  are  products  of 
change  which  temperature  and  pressure  have  brought  about 
in  beds  originally  of  a  sandy  character,  are  limited  in  the 
main  to  the  mountainous  districts  of  the  Appalachian  and 
Cordilleran  areas  and  the  lesser  fields  of  the  Ozarks  and 
the  Adirondacks.  Beyond  the  districts  above  named, 
though  beds  termed  quartzite  are  occasionally  found,  they 
have  generally  proved  to  be  too  soft  or  of  too  little  cement- 
ing value  to  make  them  of  much  service  in  road-building. 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  rocks  termed  quartzite  vary 
exceedingly  in  their  value.  Certain  of  them,  as,  for  in- 
stance, the  deposits  in  the  Berkshire  district  of  Massachu- 


60  AMEEICAN  HIGHWAYS 

setts,  though  seemingly  enduring  to  the  test  of  eye  and 
hammer,  prove  in  the  laboratory  or  in  actual  use  to  be 
valueless,  as  the  bits  do  not  bind  together  and  are  on  ac- 
count of  their  brittleness  soon  reduced  to  a  state  of  sand. 
It  is  therefore  very  necessary  for  the  road-master  to  be 
careful  in  trusting  to  stones  of  this  description.  The 
laboratory  test,  made  in  the  manner  hereafter  to  be  de- 
scribed (see  Chapter  V),  or  the  costlier  trial  on  the  road, 
affords  the  only  means  of  determining  the  utility  of  these 
materials. 

LIMESTONES 

Among  the  ordinar}^  stratified  or  bedded  rocks  the  group 
of  widest  diffusion,  that  alone  which  is  to  be  looked  to  in 
many  parts  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  is  the  limestones. 
Rocks  of  this  nature,  especially  where  found  in  thin  layers, 
with  little  sign  of  crystallization,  particularly  where  they 
contain  a  small  amount  of  clay,  say  not  more  than  twenty- 
five  per  cent,  of  that  material,  often  afford  tolerable  road 
stones.  All  the  excellent  turnpikes  of  Kentucky,  Tennes- 
see, and  the  southern  parts  of  Indiana  and  Ohio,  in  the 
aggregate  many  thousand  miles  of  very  tolerable  ways, 
have  been  built  of  this  material.  In  practice  it  is  found 
that  these  thin-bedded  limestones,  mostly  belonging  to  the 
Cincinnati  group  of  the  Lower  Silurian  period,  wear  under 
a  given  amount  of  traflic  at  least  twice  as  rapidly  as  the 
trappean  rocks.  In  some  cases,  particularly  where  the 
slopes  are  steep,  so  that  the  dust  readily  washes  away,  or 
where  the  road  is  exposed  to  strong  winds,  the  rate  of 
wear  is  about  four  times  as  rapid  as  it  would  be  if  the 
road  were  covered  with  the  best  quality  of  trap.  As  the 
only  defect  of  these  limestones  is  in  their  hardness  and 
toughness,  it  may  in  some  cases  prove  advantageous  to 


ROAD  MATERIALS  61 

cover  a  foundation,  say  five  inches  in  thickness,  of  the 
broken  limestone  with  a  layer  of  trap  not  exceeding  three 
inches  in  depth.  The  use  of  this  method  may  be  com- 
mended in  the  valleys  about  the  head  waters  of  the  Ten- 
nessee, in  portions  of  Pennsylvania,  in  New  York,  and 
along  the  shores  of  the  Great  Lakes,  where  limestones  of 
tolerable  quality  for  foundations  abound,  and  where  a  top 
coating  of  trappean  material  may  be  obtained  from  the 
ancient  rocks  on  the  north  shore  of  those  lakes  or  from 
the  Appalachian  district. 

In  proportion  as  limestone  becomes  crystalline,  i.e., 
takes  on  the  character  of  marble,  its  value  in  road-making 
diminishes,  for  the  reason  that  the  crystalline  structure  in 
most  cases  so  far  weakens  the  mass  that  it  is  apt  readily 
to  pass  into  the  state  of  powder.  As  these  marbles  occur 
only  in  districts  where  better  road-making  materials  are 
likely  to  be  present,  they  may  not  be  further  mentioned, 
except  to  say  that  their  use  is  commendable  for  foundation 
layers,  where  theu^  fair  cementation  value  makes  them 
tolerably  fit  for  service.  So  long  as  the  bits  are  kept  from 
the  destructive  action  of  the  wheels  and  feet  of  the  car- 
riages and  horses,  they  lend  themselves  to  the  road-master's 
use.  Even  where  a  more  resisting  top  covering  of  ordi- 
nary broken  stone  cannot  be  provided,  a  tolerable  road 
can  be  made  of  this  material,  often  very  cheaply,  by  using 
the  waste  from  quarries,  by  covering  the  surface  with  a 
coating  of  ferruginous  matter,  such  as  is  afforded  by  the 
leaner  iron  ores,  or  by  using  a  top  coating  of  gravel. 

CHERTS 

It  not  infrequently  happens  that,  associated  with  lime- 
stones, flinty  layers  having  a  character  commonly  known 


62  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

as  cliert  are  found.  Chert  varies  much  in  value  for  use  in 
road-making.  Sometimes  the  material,  as  is  the  case  with 
the  chert  belonging  in  the  lowermost  Silurian  or  Cambrian 
horizon  from  Vii^ginia  to  Georgia,  on  the  western  and 
southern  flanks  of  the  old  Appalachian  field,  affords  very 
tolerable  road  stones,  especially  when  the  lower  layer  of 
the  structure  is  made  of  limestone  or  other  material  which 
has  a  greater  binding  capacity  than  the  first-named  rock. 
The  difference  in  the  value  of  cherts  appears  to  depend 
upon  the  variations  in  the  toughness  of  the  stone.  That 
above  noted,  particularly  the  varieties  which  occur  in 
northern  Georgia  and  the  neighboring  parts  of  Alabama 
and  Tennessee,  resists  the  tread  of  the  wheels  and  feet,  and 
has  in  most  cases  sufficient  binding  power  to  retain  the 
fragments  in  place.  Although  not  to  be  compared  in 
quality  with  the  better  traps,  the  cherts  of  the  southern 
Appalachian  district  are  commendable  and  are  a  precious 
resource  in  a  region  which,  because  of  its  clayey  charac- 
ter, is  in  great  need  of  hardened  ways,  and  where  higher- 
grade  stone  is  usually  not  accessible.  Similar,  but  on  the 
whole  less  satisfactory,  cherts  occur  here  and  there  in  the 
Devonian  rocks  of  the  Ohio  valley  and  are  considerably 
developed  in  the  region  about  the  Upper  Mississippi. 

South  of  the  glaciated  district  and  within  the  hill-coun- 
try of  the  Appalachians  the  waste  of  the  chert  beds  is 
often  found  accumulated  in  great  quantities,  in  the  form 
of  what  is  called  taluses,  below  the  cliffs  or  steep  portions 
of  the  hillsides.  In  this  position,  though  the  fragments 
are  often  somewhat  mixed  with  earth,  the  material  is 
already  quarried  and  in  positions  where  it  can  be  readily 
transported  to  the  crusher,  or  even,  with  a  small  amount 
of  picking  and  hand-breaking  of  the  larger  fragments, 
used  in  the  lower  layers  of  a  road-bed.     Like  accumula- 


EOAD  MATERIALS  63 

tions  of  angular  fragments  of  chert  may,  throughout  the 
district  where  the  rocks  occur,  be  obtained  from  the  beds 
of  the  torrential  streams. 

CLAY  SLATES 

Associated  with  the  cherts  and  limestones,  and  even,  in 
many  regions,  where  snch  deposits  do  not  occur,  clay  slates 
and  other  deposits  of  indurated  clayey  material  occnr. 
Such  beds  do  not  afford  material  which  is  to  be  recom- 
mended for  nse  on  roads.  Although  the  stone  is  often 
quite  hard  to  the  qnarryman's  tools,  it  softens  rapidly  as 
it  takes  in  water.  It  has  bnt  slight  binding  value,  and 
the  fragments  quickly  grind  into  the  state  of  mnd.  The 
life  of  such  material  on  the  road  is  usually  less  than  one 
fifth  that  of  good  trap.  It  should  only  be  employed  when 
all  other  resources  for  insuring  a  hardened  way  are  un- 
available. The  sandstones,  except  where  they  have  been 
converted  to  quartzites  or  cherts,  are  also  to  be  passed  by 
in  road  construction,  except  where  no  other  means  of  bet- 
tering the  way  are  availal3le.  They  are  practically  with- 
out binding  value,  and  in  almost  all  cases  the  fragments 
quickly  go  to  pieces  nnder  the  tread  of  the  wheels.  Where 
gravel  can  be  obtained  the  inferior  foundations  of  sand- 
stone may  be  made  imperfectly  to  serve  by  keeping  the 
surface  covered  to  a  depth  of  two  or  three  inches  with  the 
gravelly  material ;  but  any  important  main  way  which  hes 
in  a  district  affording  nothing  better  for  road-building 
than  sandstone  can  often,  in  the  long  run,  be  more  econom- 
ically made  by  the  use  of  brick  pavements,  which,  though 
costly  in  their  first  construction,  are  in  the  coui'se  of  ten 
years  less  expensive  than  sandstone  roads. 


64  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 


GRAVELS 


In  the  road-making  materials  classed  under  the  head  of 
gravels  we  have  in  this  country  resources  which  deserve 
a  closer  study  than  they  have  yet  received  from  the  road 
engineers.  In  general,  gravel  may  be  defined  as  a  mass 
of  small,  more  or  less  rounded,  fragments  of  stone  which 
have  been  broken  out  and  shaped  by  the  action  of  water 
or  of  ice,  the  bits  representing  the  hardest  parts  of  the 
bed-rock  from  which  they  were  removed.  As  gravels 
represent  the  work  of  agents  which  bring  about  the 
decay  of  rocks  and  the  transportation  of  their  waste, 
and  as  these  agents  act  in  exceedingly  varied  ways,  the 
range  of  quality  of  the  material  is  very  great. 

GLACIAL   GRAVELS 

Within  the  glaciated  district  of  this  country  the  surface 
is  generally  deeply  covered  with  the  waste  of  the  bed-rocks 
which  have  been  torn  from  their  original  place  and  con- 
veyed for  varied  distances  in  the  path  of  the  ice  movement. 
The  greater  part  of  this  debris,  commonly  that  which  lies 
upon  the  surface  of  the  subjacent  rocks,  consists  of  a  con- 
fused mass  made  up  of  clay,  sand  pebbles,  and  large 
boulders,  the  materials  originally  commingled  with  the 
ice  which  was  left  upon  the  earth  at  the  close  of  the  glacial 
epoch  after  the  melting  of  the  sheet  was  completed.  More 
or  less  mingled  with  this  hodgepodge  of  debris,  which  is 
known  to  geologists  by  the  name  of  till,  but  generally 
lying  upon  its  surface,  we  have  very  extensive  accumula- 
tions of  a  sandy  and  gravelly  material  resulting  from  the 
breaking  up  of  the  till  by  currents  of  water,  which  oper- 
ated during  and  after  the  ice  lay  upon  the  surface.     So 


ROAD  MATERIALS  65 

general  is  the  distribution  of  this  ^^  washed  drift "  that  it 
may  be  said  to  abound  in  every  considerable  valley  through- 
out the  glaciated  field.  In  those  parts  of  the  area  which 
are  known  to  the  writer,  including  New  England  and  the 
country  to  the  westward  as  far  as  central  Wisconsin,  it 
rarely  occurs  that  the  washed  drift  cannot  be  found  within 
any  area  of  ten  miles  square. 

The  washed  drift  in  this  and  other  countries  varies  much 
in  quality.  To  a  considerable  extent  it  consists  of  clays 
and  fine  sands,  but  associated  with  these  more  abundant 
deposits  in  an  intimate  way  there  are  gravelly  accumula- 
tions which  are  often  tolerably  well  fitted  for  road-build- 
ing, affording,  when  skilfully  used,  a  hardened  way  hav- 
ing endurance  which  in  general  may  be  reckoned  next 
below  that  of  roads  formed  of  granitic  rocks.  Unfortu- 
nately these  gravels  vary  exceedingly  in  their  quality  ac- 
cording to  the  original  nature  of  the  pebbles  of  which  they 
are  composed,  the  sorting  action  which  the  water  has 
brought  upon  them,  and  the  extent  to  which  they  have 
been  affected  by  decay,  such  as  has  commonly  brought 
about  great  changes  in  the  condition  of  the  open-textured 
glacial  waste. 

The  best  of  the  glacial  gravels,  those  known  in  New 
England  as  "blue  gravels,"  hardly  to  be  classed  in  this 
group  at  all,  consist  of  trappean  materials  which  have  been 
crushed  by  the  impact  of  the  ice  and  left  in  or  near  their 
seat  of  origin  but  little  affected  by  water  action.  This 
group  of  gravels,  as  is  denoted  by  the  term  "  blue  "  applied 
to  them,  is  composed  of  undecayed  rock.  So  far  as  the 
writer  has  observed,  these  accumulations  are  limited  to 
the  New  England  States,  occurring  in  sufficient  abun- 
dance to  have  much  economic  value  only  in  the  north- 
eastern portion  of  Massachusetts.     The  best  gravels  of 


66  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

general  distribution  are  those  composed  mainly  of  trap- 
pean  and  granitic  rocks,  with  but  a  small  admixture  of 
clay,  the  less  the  better.  Such  gravels  abound  through- 
out New  England,  the  Adirondack  district,  and  the  Appa- 
lachian belt  south  to  the  limit  of  the  ice-sheet  in  that  direc- 
tion. Where,  as  is  particularly  the  case  in  the  southern 
portions  of  New  England  and  in  parts  of  the  States  to  the 
westward,  the  gravel  is  composed  mainly  of  white  quartz, 
because  of  the  smoothness  and  slight  binding  power  of 
the  quartzose  bits  the  material  is  of  much  less  value. 
Wherever  these  white  quartz  pebbles  constitute  more  than 
half  the  mass  it  is  usually  worthless  as  a  covering  for 
roads.  It  can  be  made  serviceable  only  by  the  admixture 
with  it  of  some  binding  material,  such  as  iron  ore. 

The  importance  of  the  gravels  in  this  country  is  the 
greater  as  we  go  westward  in  the  States  north  of  the  Ohio 
River.  In  that  part  of  the  country,  because  of  the  soft 
nature  of  the  horizontal-lying  stratified  rocks,  there  is 
great  dearth  of  road-building  stones,  which  gives  the  frag- 
mentary material  we  are  considering  a  relatively  large 
value.  Although  the  drift  in  the  region  north  of  the  Ohio 
is  largely  composed  of  the  waste  from  the  rocks  lying  be- 
neath the  region  which  it  occupies,  a  notable  part  of  the 
covering  is  composed  of  fragments  borne  from  north  of 
the  Great  Lakes,  where  lie  extensive  fields  of  ancient  crys- 
talline and  eruptive  rocks.  This  transportation  appears 
to  have  been  in  part  effected  by  carriage  of  the  bits  in  the 
ice  itself,  but  in  larger  measure  was  doubtless  brought 
about  by  the  streams  of  fluid  water  which  ran  under  the 
ancient  ice-sheet.  So  effective  have  been  these  means  of 
transportation  that  there  are  vast  accumulations  of  granitic 
and  other  gravelly  material  from  far  north  of  Lake  Erie 
now  lying  along  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  River.     Gravels  of 


ROAD  MATERIALS  67 

the  same  general  nature  are  associated  with  the  other  drift 
westward  for  a  considerable  distance  beyond  the  Missis- 
sippi. They  are,  moreover,  to  be  found  along  the  banks 
of  the  rivers  draining  from  the  glaciated  country  for  a  long 
way  south  of  the  ancient  margins  of  the  ice-fields.  Thus 
in  western  Kentucky,  particularly  in  the  region  about  Padu- 
cah,  extensive  deposits  of  gravel  occur  composed  in  part 
of  Northern  waste  and  in  part  of  materials  derived  from 
the  banks  of  the  Ohio.  These  gravels  occur  there,  as  they 
often  do  elsewhere,  above  the  present  fiood-plain  of  the 
river,  their  presence  at  a  high  level  indicating  either  that 
the  river  was  of  old  of  much  greater  volume  than  at  pres- 
ent, or,  what  is  more  probable,  that  the  channel  has  been 
deepened  since  the  ice  time. 

STREAM  GRAVELS 

As  the  process  of  separating  the  graveUy  material  from 
the  other  kinds  of  glacial  drift  has  been  due  to  the  action 
of  free-running  streams,  we  naturally  find  that  it  is  still 
going  on  in  the  brooks  and  rivers  which  drain  from  the 
drift  area.  Thus  in  addition  to  the  higher-lying  gravels, 
those  well  above  the  paths  of  the  existing  streams,  deposits 
mostly  formed  by  the  subglacial  rivers,  we  have  very  ex- 
tensive deposits  accumulated  in  the  post-glacial  alluvial 
plains  or  in  the  bars  along  the  courses  of  the  existing 
waterways. 

Even  where  the  drift  gravels  have  not,  by  the  process 
of  their  accumulation,  been  brought  to  a  state  which  fits 
them  for  use  as  road  materials,  they  can  often  be  adapted 
to  the  needs  by  a  simple  and  little  costly  treatment.  The 
process  of  screening,  best  accomplished  in  rotating  drums, 
may  be  made  to  separate  the  excessively  large  pebbles 


68  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

as  well  as  the  injuriously  fine  material.  Where,  as  can 
often  be  done,  the  gravel  may  be  lifted  by  steam-shovels 
and,  in  dry  weather  at  least,  pass  directly  through  the 
drums,  the  cost  of  the  work,  based  on  the  rate  of  delivery 
from  the  shovel,  including  the  excavating,  is  not  likely  to 
exceed  five  or  ten  cents  per  ton.  Where  an  objectionably 
large  amount  of  clay  is  mingled  with  the  pebbly  material 
it  may  be  necessary  to  effect  its  separation  by  water.  This 
can  be  accomplished  in  ordinary  "  log- washers,'^  consisting 
essentially  of  a  long  trough  with  a  rotating  cylinder  armed 
with  plates,  which  stirs  the  material  as  water  passes 
through,  it,  the  plates  being  set  at  such  an  angle  that  the 
gravel  is  pushed  forward  toward  the  point  of  discharge. 
With  a  properly  organized  equipment  the  cost  of  this 
work  per  ton  of  gravel,  where  the  useful  part  of  the  mass 
is  as  much  as  one  third  of  the  whole,  need  not  exceed,  if 
the  work  is  conducted  on  the  scale  of  two  hundred  tons' 
production  per  diem,  about  forty  cents  per  ton.  This, 
however,  does  not  include  the  cost  of  excavation,  a  rate 
which  will  still  leave  the  cost  of  gravel  much  less 
than  that  which  is  incurred  in  producing  a  like  amount  of 
broken  stone  where  the  material  has  to  be  taken  from  a 
solid  ledge. 

BOULDER  DEPOSITS 

In  addition  to  the  abundant  stores  of  gravel  which  exist 
in  the  glaciated  districts,  or  of  debris  from  which  available 
gravel  can  be  separated,  the  drift  deposits  commonly  in- 
clude great  quantities  of  boulders.  Even  where,  as  in 
many  parts  of  the  Western  States,  the  surface  is  occupied 
by  a  deep  coating  of  soil  containing  no  fragments  coarser 
than  sand,  there  generally  exists  a  boulder-containing 
layer  at  no  great  depth  below  the  surface.     Although  it 


ROAD  MATERIALS  69 

occasionally  happens  that  the  boulders  in  the  glacial  drift 
are  composed  of  stone  having  an  unsatisfactory  quality, 
all  of  them  are  on  the  average  much  harder  than  the 
mass  of  the  rock  whence  they  were  derived.  This  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  rude  treatment  to  which  the  fragments 
borne  along  in  a  glacial  sheet  are  subjected  speedily  wears 
out  the  softer  materials,  leaving  only  the  harder  erratics. 
On  this  account  glacial  boulders,  if  not  subjected  to  decay 
since  the  last  ice  period,  commonly  afford  when  crushed  a 
better  resource  for  road-building  than  anything  else  except 
the  product  of  quarries  yielding  trappean  or  granitic  rocks. 
Where  the  glacial  boulders  have  lain  since  the  ice  time 
exposed  to  the  weather,  or  where,  being  of  small  size,  they 
lie  within  the  zone  to  which  decay  has  penetrated  from 
the  surface,  they  are  often  so  far  decomposed  as  to  be  es- 
sentially unfit  for  use  in  road-making,  save  it  may  be  as 
Telford  pavement,  or  as  a  bottom  coating  of  broken  stone 
which  is  to  be  covered  with  material  of  a  better  grade. 
The  variation  in  the  extent  to  which  decay  has  injuriously 
affected  the  surface  stone  may  be  judged  by  simple  tests 
which  may  be  readily  applied.  After  a  brief  experience, 
a  judicious  person  with  a  light  sledge-hammer  can,  by 
striking  the  stones  which  offer  themselves  to  use  on  the 
surface  of  the  fields  and  in  the  walls,  readily  determine 
the  state  of  the  masses.  If  they  ring  sharply  to  the  blow 
they  may  be  judged  sufficiently  sound.  If,  however,  they 
pulverize  under  the  successive  strokes  and  when  broken 
show  evident  traces  of  decay,  as  by  iron  stains  penetrat- 
ing the  mass,  they  may  be  condemned  as  a  source  of  sup- 
ply. In  many  positions  the  larger  boulders  and  the 
gravelly  material  commingled  together  with  more  or  less 
sand  and  clay  may  be  exposed  in  convenient  pit  faces,  so 
that  the  cost  of  movino-  the  mass  either  with  or  without 


70  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

the  preliminary  breaking  up  by  the  use  of  explosives  is 
not  very  great.  In  many  such  places,  better  sources  of 
stone  being  unavailable,  it  will  be  profitable  to  excavate 
the  drift,  using  the  boulders  over  six  inches  in  diameter 
in  a  crusher,  separating  from  the  remainder,  by  the  method 
of  washing  before  noted,  the  gravelly  portions  of  the  mass. 
By  a  proper  arrangement  of  the  crusher,  or  perhaps  best 
by  the  use  of  two  different  pieces  of  such  apparatus,  all 
the  pebbles  above  an  inch  in  diameter  could  be  brought 
into  the  condition  of  broken  stone. 

It  is  very  important  that  the  method  of  using  the  glacial 
waste  in  the  manner  above  described  should  be  applied  in 
that  great  portion  of  the  West  extending  from  the  eastern 
border  of  Ohio  to  near  the  Eocky  Mountains.  Through- 
out the  greater  part  of  that  district  the  soil  has  the  as- 
semblage of  qualities  characteristic  of  the  so-called  prairie 
lands.  These  qualities,  while  they  insure  an  extraordinary 
fertility  and  endurance  to  tillage,  make  the  surface  mate- 
rials the  worst  possible  stuff  on  which  to  form  a  road. 
The  result  of  these  conditions  is  that  the  tax  on  transpor- 
tation due  to  iU-conditioned  highways  is  now  greater  in 
the  rural  districts  of  that  part  of  our  land  than  all  the 
other  imposts  put  together.  As  all  of  this  country,  ex- 
cept the  strip  next  the  Great  Lakes,  may  be  regarded  as 
impossibly  remote  for  the  transportation  of  road-building 
stone,  we  have  to  look  to  these  generally  concealed  accu- 
mulations of  glacial  debris  for  the  materials  to  be  used  in 
the  betterment  of  the  roads. 

CONDITIONS   OF   GLACIAL  DEPOSITS 

In  seeking  available  road-building  materials  in  the 
glacial  drift  there  are  certain  features  in  the  distribution 


ROAD  MATERIALS  71 

of  that  waste  which  the  explorer  will  do  well  to  note.  In 
the  process  of  retreat  of  the  ice  the  deposits  which  it  left 
were  accumulated  under  several  quite  diverse  conditions. 
One  of  these  produced  the  tUl ;  or  commingled  coarse  and 
fine  materials,  which  had  been  churned  up  into  the  ice 
during  the  time  of  its  motion,  came  down  upon  its  surface, 
when  the  melting  occurred,  as  a  broad,  irregularly  dis- 
posed sheet  which,  with  rare  exceptions,  is  to  be  found  in 
all  parts  of  a  glaciated  district,  save  where  it  has  been 
swept  away  by  streams. 

Again,  from  time  to  time  during  the  closing  stages  of  the 
ice  age  the  prevailingly  steadfast  retreat  of  the  ice  was  in- 
terrupted by  pauses  or  readvances.  In  these  stages  there 
was  formed  along  the  margin  of  the  ice-field  what  is  called 
a  frontal  moraine,  composed  of  debris  shoved  forward  by 
the  glacier  or  melted  out  of  it  along  its  front.  These 
moraines  are  in  most  cases  traceable,  where  they  have  not 
been  washed  away  or  buried  beneath  later  accumulations, 
in  the  form  of  a  ridge-like  heap  of  waste,  which,  as  we 
readily  note,  contains  much  less  clay  and  sand,  and  there- 
fore a  larger  proportion  of  gravel  and  boulders,  than  the 
sheet-like  deposit  of  tiU  above  described.  In  some  cases 
these  moraines  are  very  distinct  features  in  the  landscape, 
appearing,  from  the  number  of  large  boulders  which  they 
expose,  much  like  ruined  walls  of  cyclopean  masonry. 
More  commonly  they  are  found  in  the  form  of  slight 
ridges,  which  may  be  covered  with  fine  material,  but  com- 
monly exhibit  here  and  there  projecting  boulders.  In 
general  it  may  be  said  that  the  moraines  afford  much  bet- 
ter sites  for  pits  from  which  road  materials  are  to  be  ob- 
tained than  the  till,  and  this  because  of  the  prevaihng 
absence  of  clay  and  sand  in  the  deposits. 

Here  and  there  in  almost  all  glaciated  districts,  espe- 


72  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

cially  in  the  valleys  of  the  greater  streams,  there  may  be 
found  narrow  ridges,  often  of  considerable  height,  and 
almost  always  extending  in  the  direction  of  the  ice  move- 
ment, as  such  movement  is  indicated  by  the  scorings  on 
the  underlying  rocks.  These  ridges  are  generally  termed 
by  geologists  eskars,  and  often  have  a  tolerable  continuity 
for  scores  of  miles  at  right  angles  to  the  ice  front.  A 
section  of  them  shows  generally  a  gravelly  mass,  nearly 
always  free  from  clay  and  often  containing  little  sand, 
though  occasionally  there  is  an  abundance  of  large  boul- 
ders, which  have  a  prevailing  rounded  or  water-worn 
form.  These  eskars  were  doubtless  formed  in  the  caves 
beneath  the  ice  through  which  the  ancient  subglacial 
streams  found  their  way.  These  under-ice  rivers  were 
much  given  to  changing  their  position,  and  as  a  stream 
lost  its  impetus  it  was  apt  to  fill  its  ancient  arched  way 
with  debris,  which  in  its  time  of  freest  flow  would  have 
been  sent  forward  to  the  ice  front.  At  many  places  in 
New  England  and  in  New  York  the  writer  has  observed 
these  eskars  to  contain  large  and  useful  deposits  of  gravel, 
and  also  occasionally  quantities  of  boulders  well  fitted  for 
crushing  as  regards  their  size  and  hardness.  In  the  West- 
ern States,  because  of  the  general  coating  of  deep  soil, 
these  eskars  are  less  easily  found ;  but  they  exist  there,  and 
should  be  sought  for. 

Where  the  eskars  terminate,  as  they  commonly  do  on  a 
morainal  line,  there  is  almost  invariably  found,  immedi- 
ately in  front  of  their  southern  terminations,  a  delta-like 
deposit  which,  though  generally  composed  in  large  measure 
of  sand,  frequently  contains  near  the  moraine  extensive 
accumulations  of  useful  gravel  and  small  boulders  which 
are  fit  for  crushing. 

In  searching  for  glacial  waste  which  may  be  made  in 


ROAD  MATERIALS  73 

the  ways  above  mentioned  to  serve  in  road-making,  it  is 
necessary,  in  the  western  part  of  the  country  at  least,  to 
pay  little  attention  to  the  character  of  the  soil.  Infor- 
mation may  be  had  from  the  banks  of  streams,  where  by 
chance  they  have  cut  below  the  deep  coating  of  fine  ma- 
terials. The  existence  of  any  distinct  uprise  of  the  sur- 
face affords  some  reason  to  expect  that  the  coarse  glacial 
waste  may  be  at  that  point  not  very  deeply  hidden.  It  is 
probable  that  the  best  method  of  exploration  is  by  any 
simple  form  of  driU.  Even  the  ordinary  post-hole  auger 
may  be  made  to  serve  the  purpose.  Where  useful  mate- 
rial is  found  it  may  be  worked  in  open  pits,  preferably 
by  the  use  of  the  steam-shovel ;  or  if,  as  is  the  case  in  some 
parts  of  the  waste,  the  superficial  coating  is  more  than  a 
score  of  feet  thick,  it  may  be  necessary  to  resort  to  the 
ordinary  methods  of  the  miner,  but  even  in  these  cases  we 
may  expect,  considering  the  needs  of  the  country,  that 
comparatively  cheap  road-building  materials  may  be  ob- 
tained. In  general,  however,  it  wiU  probably  be  better  to 
enter  the  deposit  at  the  base  of  a  slope  at  the  level  of  a 
stream-bed,  so  that  water  may  be  had  for  washing,  if  that 
process  is  to  be  used,  and  natural  drainage  obtained. 

What  has  been  said  concerning  the  sources  of  supply 
of  road  materials  in  the  region  of  plains  north  of  the  Ohio 
and  Missouri  rivers,  unfortunately  does  not  rest  on  much 
practical  experience.  The  writer  has  personally  examined 
a  good  deal  of  the  country,  and  reports  of  the  geologists 
of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey  afford  abundant 
evidence  as  to  the  wide  range  and  much  as  to  the  charac- 
ter of  the  deposits.  The  cost  of  excavation  and  of  wash- 
ing rests  upon  a  large  body  of  experience  in  the  treatment 
of  the  iron  ores  of  the  Southern  States,  with  which  the 
writer  has  had  much  to  do.     The  whole  matter  clearly 


74  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

deserves  a  very  careful  inquiry,  as  it  may  afford  the  solu- 
tion of  the  large  economic  problem  presented  by  the  pres- 
ent condition  of  the  roadways  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
Mississippi  valley. 

GRAVELS   OF   THE   SOUTHERN   STATES 

Although  characteristic  and  widely  disseminated  gravels 
are  limited  to  the  glaciated  districts  of  this  country  and 
other  similarly  affected  lands,  there  are  in  the  region  south 
of  the  old  ice-field  large  deposits  of  river  gravels,  left  in 
the  form  of  terraces  often  far  above  the  present  level  of 
the  stream.  Little  is  as  yet  known  of  the  high-lying  river 
gravels  in  the  southern  portion  of  this  country;  but 
enough  has  been  observed  to  make  it  certain  that  these 
deposits,  w^hich  often  need  to  be  treated  by  washing  in  the 
manner  above  noted,  may  afford  very  valuable  road  ma- 
terials, at  least  in  the  districts  which  are  not  otherwise 
provided  with  good  road-building  stone. 

Over  a  large  part  of  what  is  commonly  called  the  South- 
ern Plain,  that  portion  of  the  South  which  has  in  general 
a  little  indented  surface  sloping  from  heights  of  about  one 
thousand  feet  toward  the  sea,  there  occurs  a  very  wide- 
spread deposit  composed  in  large  measure  of  rounded  peb- 
bleSj  small  boulders,  and  gravelly  bits  more  or  less  mingled 
with  clay  and  sand.  This  obscurely  bed-like  surface  ac- 
cumulation has  been  termed  by  Mr.  McGree  the  Lafayette 
formation.  The  origin  of  the  mass  is  not  yet  determined, 
but  it  is  probably  made  up  in  part  of  ancient  river  gravels 
and  in  part  of  the  hard  portions  of  a  great  thickness  of 
rock  which  has  disappeared  by  the  leaching  action  of  the 
surface  waters.  Deposits  of  this  nature  are  tolerably 
common  over  a  large  part  of  the  non-glaciated  district 
of  the  United  States  east  of  the  Cordilleras.     The  sheet 


ROAD  MATERIALS  75 

often  attains  a  thickness  of  some  scores  of  feet,  and  not 
infrequently  has  the  aspect  of  a  slightly  compacted  con- 
glomerate or  pudding-stone.  The  fragments  in  the  mass 
vary  much  in  composition ;  they  are  often  of  quartzite  or 
chert.  It  not  infrequently  happens  that  they  contain,  to 
the  advantage  of  the  road-builder,  considerable  quantities 
of  nodular  limonite  iron  ore.  It  is  to  be  observed  that 
wherever  the  ordinary  unimproved  roads  pass  over  a 
characteristic  mass  of  this  Lafayette  formation  they  re- 
main in  excellent  state  throughout  the  greater  part  of  the 
year,  and  are  moderately  passable  even  in  the  worst  sea- 
sons of  alternating  rain  and  frost.  It  seems  likely  that  at 
many  points  it  will  be  profitable  to  use  the  material  from 
these  deposits,  even  where  it  has  to  be  hauled  by  railways 
for  a  considerable  distance  without  any  treatment.  In 
other  places,  as  the  writer  has  noted,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  submit  the  mass  to  a  washing  process  to  separate  the 
excess  of  clay.  There  can  be  no  question,  however,  that 
in  a  careful  study  as  to  the  distribution  of  these  Lafayette 
pebbly  deposits  there  will  be  found  the  fittest  opportunity 
for  the  betterment  of  many  thousand  miles  of  our  South- 
ern ways. 

PHOSPHATE  NODULES 

Here  and  there  in  the  South,  particularly  in  western 
central  Florida,  but  also  in  a  less  determined  way  in  por- 
tions of  Alabama,  Georgia,  and  perhaps  Mississippi,  there 
occur  sandy  and  clayey  beds  in  which  are  found  in  varia- 
ble quantities  hard  nodular  masses  of  lime  phosphate.  As 
is  well  known,  where  this  phosphate  is  sufficiently  rich  for 
the  needs  of  the  manufacturer  the  material  has  a  high  value 
as  a  source  of  fertilization.  It  is  not  unlikely,  however, 
that  here  and  there  these  pebbly  beds  contain  too  little 

5* 


76  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

available  material  to  make  them  useful  save  as  road  ma- 
terials, for  wliich  they  are  very  much  better  fitted  than 
ordinary  limestone  rock. 

At  many  points  in  the  South,  particularly  in  the  States 
of  Georgia  and  Alabama,  there  are  extensive  deposits  of 
limonite  iron  ore  composed  of  pebbles  of  that  material 
scattered  through  clay  and  sand.  It  occasionally  happens 
that  the  admixture  of  quartz  and  other  pebbles  with  those 
of  iron  ore  makes  it  unprofitable  to  prepare  the  material 
for  market  at  the  low  price  now  paid  for  such  ore.  Ex- 
perience has  shown  that  some  of  these  pebbly  iron  deposits, 
especially  when  used  with  other  material  such  as  chert  or 
lime,  assist  much  in  hardening  a  road.  This  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  a  portion  of  the  iron,  penetrating  into  the  rubble 
of  the  way,  acts  as  a  cement  for  the  mass.  In  the  absence 
of  other  suitable  material  the  consideration  of  these  low- 
grade  iron  ores  is  to  be  recommended. 

It  may  be  said,  in  closing  this  account  of  gravel  deposits, 
that  even  in  districts  where  no  high-lying  masses  of  this 
nature  are  to  be  found  the  river-beds  contain  a  considera- 
ble share  of  such  pebbly  matter,  which  may  at  times  of 
low  water  be  readily  obtained  by  dredging  with  scoops 
after  the  manner  of  ordinary  steam-shovels  operated  from 
a  boat.  There  is  probably  not  a  river  north  of  Florida 
which,  in  the  reaches  where  the  water  has  a  free  flow,  will 
be  found  destitute  of  such  resources  for  road-building. 

SHELL    BEDS 

At  many  points  along  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf  coast-line, 
particularly  in  the  embayed  waters,  the  mud-flats  and  the 
low-lying  plains  covered  with  marshes  are  underlaid  by 
deep   and   wide-reaching  fields   of  ancient   oyster-beds. 


ROAD  MATERIALS  77 

These  accumulations  extend  as  far  north  as  Cape  Ann, 
Massachusetts.  Recent  excavations  on  the  Charles  River 
flats,  Boston,  have  shown  an  amazing  abundance  of  such 
remains,  where  no  oysters  have  lived  for  a  century  or 
more.  In  most  cases  these  old  oyster-beds  preserve  theii' 
shells  in  a  tolerably  firm  condition.  The  cost  of  excavat- 
ing the  material  and  of  washing  away  the  small  amount 
of  sand  and  mud  which  lies  between  the  close-packed  shells 
would  not  be  great.  If  there  were  sufficient  demand  for  the 
product,  as  there  might  well  be,  for  road-building  purposes 
as  well  as  for  making  lime,  the  washed  material  could  proba- 
bly be  f m-nished  at  a  cost  not  exceeding  fifty  cents  per  ton. 

For  roads  which  are  not  to  have  heavy  traffic  oyster- 
shells  afford  a  tolerable  hardening  material.  At  the  cost 
of  ordinary  limestone,  such  as  is  used  on  the  macadamized 
ways  of  Kentucky,  the  material  may  be  regarded  as  hav- 
ing about  the  same  value  as  the  rock.  The  use  of  these 
shells  may  be  commended  in  aU  the  seaboard  region  of  the 
South  Atlantic  States,  where  the  expense  of  placing  the 
material  on  the  road  does  not  exceed  from  a  dollar  to  a 
dollar  and  a  half  a  ton.  One  advantage  of  using  these  shells 
is  that  there  is  no  occasion  for  the  use  of  the  roller  in 
compacting  the  mass.  The  material  needs  only  to  be 
spread  evenly,  so  that  the  wheels  will  affect  it  in  a  uniform 
manner.  Then,  after  a  few  months  of  use  the  ruts  need  to 
be  refilled.  After  that,  with  a  renewal  of  the  surface  coat- 
ing every  three  or  four  years,  the  depth  of  the  covering 
in  most  cases  not  exceeding  two  inches,  the  road  may  be 
expected  to  remain  in  fair  condition.  It  should  be  noted, 
however,  that,  owing  to  the  rather  friable  nature  of  the 
oyster-sheUs,  ways  thus  hardened  will  not  resist  the  tread 
of  heavy  carriages.  Where  there  are  but  few  vehicles 
passing  with  a  greater  aggregate  weight  than  about  three 


78  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

thousand  pounds,  such  roads,  though  to  be  reckoned  not 
as  the  best,  may  still  prove  very  serviceable.  Some  objec- 
tion has  been  made  to  the  use  of  oyster-shells  for  the  rea- 
son that  the  dust  from  roads  to  which  they  have  been  ap- 
plied appears  to  harm  the  varnish  of  carriages.  The 
sharp-edged  bits  are  said,  also,  to  damage  the  rubber  tires 
of  bicycles. 

PAVING-BRICK  CLAYS 

In  addition  to  the  rock  materials,  which  in  what  may 
be  called  their  natural  state  may  be  used  on  roadways,  we 
have  to  reckon  on  the  group  of  clays  which  may  be  baked 
into  brick  suitable  for  road  pavement.,  The  serviceable- 
ness  of  brick  to  be  used  as  pavement  on  common  roads 
has  been  demonstrated  by  long  experience  in  the  Nether- 
lands. Only  of  late  years,  however,  has  this  material  been 
brought  into  use  in  the  United  States,  so  far  almost  alto- 
gether in  building  high-grade  city  streets.  We  therefore 
as  yet  know  little  concerning  the  distribution  of  the  clays 
which  are  fitted  for  the  manufacture  of  brick  suitable  for 
highway  constructions.  Enough  has  been  ascertained, 
however,  to  make  it  clear  that  clays  fitted  for  this  purpose 
are  widely  distributed  throughout  the  section  from  central 
New  York  to  the  Mississippi  River.  The  general  charac- 
ter of  the  deposits  indicates  that  clays  suitable  for  burning 
into  good  paving-brick  may  be  found  throughout  those 
portions  of  the  Mississippi  valley  which  are  most  destitute 
of  stones  fit  for  road-building. 

It  is  required  of  a  clay  which  is  to  be  used  in  making 
paving-brick  that  it  be  tolerably  resistant  to  the  heat  of 
the  kiln,  but  that  it  shall,  unlike  fire-brick,  become  through- 
out partly  vitrified  at  the  highest  baking  temperature.  The 
result  is  a  material  which,  so  far  as  its  resistance  to  the 


ROAD  MATERIALS  79 

impacts  of  carriages  is  concerned,  is  almost  as  serviceable 
as  granite  blocks.  The  best  results  in  making  brick  of 
the  kind  now  under  consideration  have  been  attained  by 
using  clays  taken  from  the  coal-measures  rocks.  When 
first  mined  these  materials  are  tolerably  hard,  so  that  it 
is  necessary  to  break  them  up  by  some  method  of  grinding. 
Inferior  results  have  been  gained  from  the  superficial 
clays,  though  the  bricks  made  from  them  have  done  very 
good  service. 

In  those  portions  of  the  West  where  no  other  materials 
for  hardening  the  roads  can  be  obtained,  resort  in  time 
will  necessarily  be  had  to  paving-brick.  Although  the 
treatment  of  clay  necessary  in  the  production  of  brick  is 
somewhat  costly,  the  use  of  machinery  in  the  work  has  of 
late  years  very  much  reduced  the  expense  of  manufactur- 
ing. Still  further,  the  process  of  burning  by  the  use  of 
crude  petroleum,  which  can  readily  be  had  in  the  West- 
ern fields,  or,  what  may  prove  to  be  yet  cheaper,  by  the 
use  of  the  gases  formed  in  the  by-product  ovens  in  which 
coke  is  now  generally  made,  may  serve  still  further  to 
diminish  the  cost  of  roads  of  this  description.  It  is  not 
unreasonable  to  expect  that,  as  there  is  a  large  demand 
for  road-paving  brick,  the  cost  of  ways  thus  hardened 
would  not  very  much  exceed  that  incurred  in  building 
high-grade  roads  of  trap  where  the  stone  has  to  be  hauled 
by  railway,  say  for  the  distance  of  one  hundred  miles.  As 
yet  the  greatest  expense  which  has  to  be  met  in  the  con- 
struction of  brick-paved  roads  is  in  the  foundations,  which 
it  is  the  custom  to  make  either  of  plank  or  of  some  form 
of  concrete.  If  by  the  use  of  large  ordinary  tiles  or  other 
cheaper  material  for  a  foundation  the  expense  of  the  sub- 
structure could  be  diminished,  say  about  one  half,  it  may 
be  possible  to  build  brick-paved  roads  even  in  the  present 


80  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

economic  condition  of  many  well-developed  agricultural 
districts.  It  seems,  however,  to  the  writer  that  it  will  be 
best  to  leave  this  method  of  construction  to  attain  greater 
maturity  in  street  pavements  than  to  endeavor  at  once  to 
apply  it  in  country  roads. 

Among  the  questions  still  to  be  determined  concerning 
the  adaptation  of  paving-brick  to  country  roads  are  those 
as  to  the  proper  size  and  form  of  the  blocks.  As  yet  the 
shapes  which  have  been  well  essayed  are  much  like  those 
used  for  masonry  purposes,  with  a  beveled  surface  at  each 
angle.  The  proper  figure  and  size  of  these  bricks,  as  well 
as  the  fit  method  of  supporting  them  and  binding  them 
together,  need  to  be  the  subject  of  much  experiment  be- 
fore it  will  be  well  to  essay  the  use  of  them  on  road- 
ways.    The  field  is,  however,  one  of  much  promise. 

TRACKWAYS 

Where  roads  are  quite  unimproved  they  are  often  bet- 
ter than  where  they  have  been  subjected  to  unreasonable 
efforts  at  mending.  Thus  in  the  Cape  district  of  Massachu- 
setts, which  are  the  single  trackways  with  thick-set  bushes 
on  either  side,  the  teams  have  been  compelled  to  keep  in 
one  line  of  ruts,  except  in  the  places  which  have  been  pro- 
vided for  passing.  Into  the  wheel-  and  foot-ruts  the 
leaves  gather,  thus  serving  to  bind  the  sand  or  gravel 
together.  In  the  above-named  district  there  are  a  thou- 
sand miles  or  more  of  these  primitive  ways,  which  are  very 
much  better  for  use  than  others  which  have  been  widened 
so  that  there  are  no  barriers  to  confine  the  vehicles  to  one 
path.  In  these  'improved"  roads  the  sand  becomes 
churned  about  until  the  way  is  uniformly  deep.  In  many 
instances,  unless  a  road  is  to  be  provided  with  an  adequate 


ROAD  MATERIALS  81 

foundation,  it  is  as  well  to  leave  it  in  the  state  of  a  track- 
way. Such  roads  have  at  least  a  picturesque  quality  which 
is  never  to  be  found  in  the  unsightly  apologies  for  roads 
which  mark  the  next  stage  of  advancement. 

About  forty  years  ago  there  was  a  fancy  for  plank  roads 
in  those  parts  of  this  country  where  suitable  timber  for 
constructing  them  was  cheaply  obtained.  These  ways 
were  built  in  the  manner  of  an  ordinary  barn  floor,  except 
that  the  boards  were  laid  on  stringers  and  held  down  by 
strips  placed  on  the  sides  without  the  use  of  nails.  When 
first  built  a  plank  road,  if  it  rests  on  an  earthen  support, 
is  excellently  adapted  to  travel.  The  trouble  is  that  it 
soon  wears  out.  When  it  begins  to  give  way  the  action  of 
the  wheels  insures  its  swift  destruction  5  at  the  end  of  three 
or  four  years  it  is  commonly  worn  out.  A  way  which  it  was 
a  delight  to  drive  over  thus  becomes  a  very  sorry  affair. 

Among  the  primitive  types  of  way  which  may  still  be 
found  in  the  swampy  parts  of  this  country  is  the  '^  cordu- 
roy" or  "laid  road."  This  is  formed  of  small,  straight 
tree-trunks  placed  side  by  side  across  the  way.  In  the 
better  methods  of  construction  these  transverse  sticks  are 
held  in  place  by  heavy  timbers  arranged  lengthwise  on  the 
sides  of  the  track.  Although  a  tolerably  effective  provi- 
sion against  miring,  these  laid  roads  are  an  aggravation  to 
the  flesh.  Those  who  have  been  compelled  to  traverse 
them  are  likely  to  remember  the  experience.  As  some 
such  method  of  bridging  swampy  tracts  of  land  has  often 
to  be  used,  it  is  advisable  after  the  road  is  laid  with  the 
timbers  to  scarf  off  the  surface  of  the  sticks  with  a  foot- 
adz.  The  cost  of  this  process  is  small,  and  is  more  than 
offset  by  the  much  greater  endurance  of  the  structure,  as 
it  avoids  the  sharp  blows  of  the  wheels  which  speedily 
cut  the  road  into  bits. 


CHAPTER  V 

METHODS  OF   TESTING  ROAD  MATERIALS 

Cost  of  road  stone.     History  of  experiments.     Methods  of  testing. 
Field-tests  of  road-making  stone.     Time  required  in  such  tests 

AS  tlie  greater  part  of  the  cost  of  any  fairly  well-con- 
XjL  structed  way  is  incurred  in  providing  the  hardening 
material  which  is  used  thereon,  it  is  necessary  for  the 
roadmaster  to  consider  the  methods  by  which  the  fitness 
of  the  stones  to  which  he  may  have  access  is  to  be  deter- 
mined. In  Massachusetts  experience  shows  that  on  a 
road  having  a  width  of  fifteen  feet  it  is  necessary  to  use 
between  thirty  and  thirty-five  hundred  tons  of  stone  per 
mile,  not  counting  that  which  may  be  built  into  the  foun- 
dations or  applied  to  the  shoulders  of  the  road.  The  aver- 
age duration  of  the  material  used  in  the  hardened  way 
above  the  foundations  may  be  taken  as  about  twenty 
years.  Thus  the  consumption  of  broken  stone  per  mile 
of  road  may  be  reckoned  at  about  fifteen  thousand  tons 
each  century. 

For  the  incidental  repairs  in  the  periods  between  each 
general  reconstruction  of  the  way,  which  has  to  be  un- 
dertaken at  intervals  of  about  fifteen  years,  it  may  be 
estimated  that  at  least  as  much  more  stone  would  be  re- 

82 


METHODS  OF   TESTING  ROAD  MATERIALS  83 

quired,  so  that  the  average  per  annum  will  be  between  three 
and  four  hundred  tons.  The  above- given  rough  estimates 
are  on  the  supposition  that  the  stone  used  is  of  the  best 
quality.  If  it  be  of  lower  grade  the  increase  in  the 
amount  of  stone  required  may  be  exceedingly  rapid,  until 
at  least  double  the  amount  of  wear  and  consequent  expen- 
diture will  be  incurred.  As  the  average  cost  of  procuring 
and  applying  broken  stone,  either  in  original  construction 
or  in  repairs,  may  be  averaged  at  about  two  dollars  per 
ton,  the  cost  in  appHcation  for  repairs  being  greater  than 
in  original  construction,  it  becomes  at  once  evident  that 
endurance,  as  determined  by  the  quality  of  the  material 
employed,  is  a  matter  of  much  economic  importance.  In- 
attention to  this  point  may  double  the  burden  which  build- 
ing roads  imposes  upon  a  people. 

HISTORY   OF   EXPERIMENTS 

Until  systematic  experiments  in  the  construction  of 
roads  were  begun  by  the  French  in  the  early  part  of  this 
century,  the  only  method  of  testing  the  value  of  stone 
was  by  applying  the  material  to  the  road  in  some  standard 
manner,  and  then  taking  account  of  the  costs  of  repairs 
over  a  series  of  years.  This  method,  though  doubtless  the 
most  effective  which  can  be  used,  is  crude,  and,  as  will  be 
readily  seen,  very  costly.  To  obtain  prehminary  know- 
ledge concerning  the  value  of  stone  the  French  invented  a 
method  of  placing  a  given  weight,  composed  of  fragments 
of  the  stone,  in  a  tight  drum  so  arranged  that  when  ro- 
tated the  bits  were  not  onl}^  rolled  over  one  another,  but 
shifted  from  end  to  end  of  the  vessel.  After  a  given 
number  of  revolutions  of  the  drum,  usually  ten  thousand, 
the  fine  material  is  gathered  and  weighed.     The  ratio 


84  AMEEICAN  HiaHWAYS 

whicli  it  bears  to  the  original  weight  of  the  material  is 
taken  as  the  index  of  resistance  of  the  rock  to  such  wear- 
ing action  as  it  would  be  subjected  to  on  a  road.  Although 
the  French  method  as  originally  used  affords  a  useful  rough 
test  as  to  one  of  the  qualities  which  are  required  in  road- 
building  material,  it  does  not  give  any  information  con- 
cerning sundry  other  even  more  important  characteristics. 
It  is  desirable  to  know  not  only  how  far  a  stone  will  wear 
in  rubbing  movements,  but  the  extent  to  which  it  will 
break  up  under  the  sharp  blow  inflicted  by  the  feet  of 
horses.  Furthermore,  as  before  remarked,  a  large  part 
of  the  value  of  road-making  stone  depends  upon  the  cem- 
entation value  of  the  dust  which  is,  produced  in  the 
breaking  of  the  material  and  in  the  rolling  of  the  frag- 
ments together  as  they  are  passed  over  by  the  roller  and 
by  carriage-wheels.  Not  only  the  first  endurance  of  the 
fii*st  cementation  of  these  "fines"  should  be  known,  but 
their  capacity  to  reunite  when  again  wetted  and  dried 
after  being  powdered.  On  this  process  of  recementation 
largely  depends  the  endurance  of  any  macadamized  way. 

METHODS   OF   TESTING 

In  the  experiments  on  road  materials  which  have  been 
carried  on  by  Mr.  L.  R.  Page,  in  the  laboratory  of 
engineering  of  the  Lawrence  Scientific  School,  princi- 
pally in  connection  with  the  needs  of  the  Massachusetts 
Highway  Commission,  the  following  described  method 
of  testing  rock  which  is  intended  for  use  on  macadam- 
ized ways  is  followed.  As  in  the  French  experiments, 
fragments  of  the  material  of  about  the  size  of  those 
used  on  the  way  are  placed,  to  the  amount  of  five  kilo- 
grams (about  eleven  pounds),  in  the  rattler,  made  on  the 


METHODS  OF   TESTING  ROAD  MATERIALS  85 

model  used  in  the  French  system.  The  determination 
of  the  resistance  to  the  rubbing  and  pounding  action  is 
made  as  in  the  French  method.  The  general  results  of  this 
test  are  well  shown  in  the  table  (see  Appendix  B),  which 
shows  the  rate  of  wear  thus  obtained  on  sundry  varieties 
of  rock,  mostly  from  Massachusetts.  On  the  basis  afforded 
by  the  experiment  above  described,  the  following  additional 
tests  are  then  made.  A  portion  of  the  '^  fines  "  of  the  dust 
from  the  rattler  is  molded  into  small  briquets,  cubes  hav- 
ing a  diameter  of  three  centimeters.  These  are  dried  in 
a  uniform  way  and  are  then  subjected  to  the  action  of  a 
weight  which  is  dropped  upon  them  at  regular  intervals, 
but  with  a  steadily  increasing  height  of  fall.  The  point 
at  which,  the  material  gives  way  affords  a  test  as  to  the 
cohesion  of  the  mass.  The  recementation  value  is  like- 
wise determined  by  repeating  the  process,  first  grinding 
the  fragments  of  the  briquets,  which  have  previously  been 
broken,  and  remolding  them,  using  definite  amounts  of 
water.  In  the  method  of  testing  above  described,  infor- 
mation is  obtained,  so  far  as  it  has  yet  proved  possible 
to  secure  it  through  laboratory  experiments,  concerning 
the  more  important  peculiarities  of  road  stones.  There 
remain,  however,  some  features  of  less  moment  which  as 
yet  it  has  not  proved  practicable  to  test  in  the  laboratory. 
Among  these  we  may  reckon  the  effect  of  atmospheric 
agents  in  softening  the  rock,  and  especially  the  influence 
of  the  various  acids  derived  from  the  dung  of  animals 
which  becomes  scattered  along  the  way.  On  the  whole, 
however,  the  results  of  these  experiments,  so  far  as  they 
have  been  compared  with  those  obtained  through  practical 
experience  in  road  construction,  bear  out  the  conclusion 
that  it  is  possible  to  obtain  sufficient  knowledge,  and  this 
at  very  small  cost,  to  afford  most  valuable  guidance  in  the 


86  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

choice  of  the  species  of  rock  which  it  is  proposed  to  use 
in  road-building.  It  is  very  desirable  that  this  method  of 
testing  road  stones  should  be  made  reasonably  free  to  the 
public.  The  federal  government  could  do  no  better  service 
than  to  provide  such  information. 

FIELD-TESTS   OF   ROAD-MAKING   STONE 

In  many  cases  something  concerning  the  value  of  the 
materials  chosen  to  improve  roads  may  be  ascertained  by 
observing  the  effect  of  the  traffic  on  stone  which  has 
been  used  in  filling  ruts  or  cradle-holes.  Where  the 
rock  is  observed  to  bind  weU  and  not  to  wear  with 
great  rapidity,  a  tolerably  good  indication  that  it  is  fit  for 
service  will  be  thus  obtained.  Again,  it  not  infrequently 
happens  that  the  road  has  worked  down  upon  the  under- 
lying rock.  Where  this  proves  tolerably  resistant  to 
abrasion  it  is  worth  while  to  try  a  small  amount  of  it  in 
the  broken  form,  laid  down  in  the  manner  described  in 
Chapter  VII.  A  test  of  this  nature  can  be  made  if  need 
be  by  breaking  the  stone  with  the  use  of  hammers  in  the 
manner  followed  until  the  recent  invention  of  power- 
crushers.  For  the  purpose  of  a  sound  inquiry  it  is,  how- 
ever, necessary  that  a  considerable  strip  of  road  should  be 
thus  laid  in  order  that  the  passing  vehicles  may  take  on  a 
normal  speed.  In  general  it  may  be  said  that  such  an  ex-^ 
periment  is  not  likely  to  be  thoroughly  satisfactory  unless 
it  includes  level  ground  and  as  steep  a  grade  as  is  likely  to 
be  called  for  in  the  larger  use  of  the  material.  In  most 
cases  these  conditions  of  practical  testing  cannot  be  ob- 
tained with  less  than  one  half  a  mile  in  length  of  road. 

A  test  of  some  value  could  probably  be  made  by  build- 
ing smaU  strips  of  road  with  the  broken  stone  which  is  to 


METHODS   OF   TESTING  ROAD   MATERIALS  87 

be  submitted  to  inquiry  at  various  points  on  a  considera- 
ble length  of  road,  choosing  the  level  and  the  steeper  parts 
of  the  way  as  the  sites.  If  care  were  taken  to  have  the 
pieces  laid  in  such  condition  that  the  vehicles  would  pass 
over  the  experimental  pavement  at  the  speed  they  would 
be  likely  to  have  on  a  thoroughly  improved  road,  there  is 
no  reason  why  this  method  of  testing  should  not  be  satis- 
factory. 

TIME   REQUIRED   IN   SUCH  TESTS 

The  time  required  for  the  essays  above  mentioned  in 
laying  experimental  bits  of  road  is  unfortunately  con- 
siderable. No  final  verdict  as  to  the  value  of  the  mate- 
rial can  well  be  obtained  with  less  than  five  years  of  trial 
on  a  road  which  is  considerably  frequented  by  teams. 
Where,  as  on  many  country  roads,  light  vehicles  only  are 
used,  and  the  traffic  does  not  involve  the  passing  of  more 
than  thirty  or  forty  vehicles  each  way  in  twenty-four 
hours,  the  test  to  be  sufficient  would  probably  have  to  be 
extended  for  at  least  eight  years.  It  is  this  time  element 
in  such  experiments  which  makes  it  so  desirable  to  have 
the  stone  subjected  to  laboratory  tests. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  aOVERNMENTAL  RELATIONS  OF  ROADS 

Difficulties  of  problem.  American  systems  of  road  management. 
Need  of  control  "by  States.  System  of  control  by  private  corpo- 
rations. Methods  of  control  by  the  State.  System  of  Massa- 
chusetts. Methods  of  building  State  roads.  Methods  of  super- 
vising.    Relation  of  electric  roads  to  highways 

THE  difficulties  which  have  been  encountered  in  main- 
taining a  well-con  strncted  system  of  public  ways  in 
any  locally  governed  community  have  always  been  very 
great.  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  the  early  successes  in 
road-making  were  altogether  limited  to  the  Roman  empire, 
in  which  there  was  a  strong  central  government  control- 
ling aU  matters  relating  to  public  ways,  in  which  the  people 
of  the  communities  in  which  the  roads  lay  contributed 
only  their  enforced  labor,  the  plans  for  the  location  of  the 
route  and  for  its  construction  being  determined  by  author- 
ities over  which  the  provincial  folk  had  no  control.  With 
the  downfall  of  the  Roman  empire,  even  where  the  eco- 
nomic estate  of  the  locality  gained  by  the  change,  we  find 
that  all  system  in  road-building  ceased  to  exist. 

The  revival  of  the  art  of  highway  construction  came 
when  the  government  of  France  had  become  thoroughly 


J 


THE  GOVERNMENTAL  RELATIONS  OF  ROADS        89 

centralized  so  that  it  eoiild  play  a  strong  part  in  the  admin- 
istration of  the  provinces.  The  bettered  conditions  of 
England,  which  began  somewhat  after  the  improvement 
in  France,  were  likewise  due  to  a  considerable  centraliza- 
tion of  authority,  the  people  of  the  vicinage  having  little 
to  say  as  to  the  construction  and  maintenance  of  the  prin- 
cipal ways.  The  system  of  toll  roads  under  the  author- 
ity of  charters  has  hitherto  proved  the  principal  resource 
of  decentralized  governments  in  improving  the  ways  of  the 
people.  Beginning  in  feudal  times  as  a  convenient  means 
of  levying  taxes,  the  toll  system  was  gradually  in  more 
modern  days  so  modified  that  these  ways  were  handed  over 
to  corporations  which,  while  they  were  at  times  called  upon 
to  pay  some  share  of  their  income  to  the  coffers  of  the 
state,  were  required  before  dividing  profits  to  maintain 
them  in  good  passable  condition.  Long  after  the  sover- 
eigns ceased  to  have  any  actual  control  over  the  roads  in 
the  way  of  toll-taking  they  were  still,  and  to  this  day  in 
England  are,  known  as  the  king's  highways.  The  term 
continued  to  be  used  even  in  this  country  long  after  the 
separation  from  the  mother-country.  It  may  be  heard 
occasionally  even  to  this  day. 

AMERICAN   SYSTEMS   OF   ROAD   IMANAGEMENT 

When  the  English  settlements  were  made  in  North 
America  the  idea  of  a  central  control  of  road  systems  had 
not  been  redeveloped  after  its  loss  in  the  middle  ages. 
The  only  method  of  effecting  improvement  was  that  by 
means  of  corporations  which  were  allowed  to  tax  those 
who  used  the  ways.  Although  there  have  been  occasional 
interferences  on  the  part  of  the  federal  government,  and 
of  State  governments  looking  to  the  improvement  of  par- 


90  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

ticularly  important  ways,  it  was  not  until  within  a  decade 
that  the  idea  of  managing  the  principal  highways  of  any 
commonwealth  by  a  State  board  was  brought  into  prom- 
inence. Up  to  the  present  time  it  may  be  said  that  our 
American  system,  or  rather  lack  of  it,  in  the  manage- 
ment of  roads  has  rested  upon  the  action  of  local  author- 
ities, those  of  counties  or  of  towns.  Here  and  there  in 
wealthy  communities  public  spirit  has  led  to  a  large, 
though  almost  uniformly  wasteful,  method  of  bettering 
the  ways,  with  the  result  that  in  a  number  of  counties  which 
could  be  named,  in  all  not  including  perhaps  more  than 
one  one-hundredth  part  of  our  population,  the  highways 
have  been  brought  into  a  tolerably  satisfactory  state.  Ex- 
perience, however,  shows  that,  even  with  people  as  patri- 
otic in  relation  to  the  interests  of  their  neighborhood  as 
Americans  generally  are,  it  is  impossible  to  develop  a 
well-considered  plan  of  roads.  Even  where  these  exist 
within  the  limits  of  a  small  community  they  are  never 
properly  related  to  those  of  the  adjacent  administrations. 
There  is  no  sense  whatever  of  the  commonwealth  in  their 
planning  or  administration. 

NEED   OF   CONTROL  BY   STATES 

There  are  sufficient  reasons  in  the  nature  of  man  why  it 
is  impossible  in  any  state  to  provide  a  fit  system  of  high- 
ways by  the  action  of  boards  which  have  only  local  author- 
ity, and  which  are  necessarily  swayed  by  purely  local,  if 
not  individual,  interests.  As  before  remarked,  no  good 
system  of  roads  has  ever  been  developed  without  a  large 
authority  lodged  in  the  hands  of  some  central  administra- 
tion. Under  any  other  system  we  may  expect  at  best 
occasional  good  roads,  which  will  serve  only  the  needs  of 


A  ROAD  NEAR  TEYON  CITY,  NORTH  CAROLINA. 


THE   GOVERNMENTAL   RELATIONS   OF   ROADS        93 

those  who  pay  for  them,  and  will  have  no  reference  to  the 
poorer  or  less  enterprising  comnmnities  which  may  lie  on 
either  hand.  It  is  therefore  evident  that  the  alternative 
in  the  matter  of  bettered  w^ays  is  between  a  system  of 
what  may  be  termed  state  roads,  or  roads  which,  as  re- 
gards their  location  and  maintenance,  are  under  the  con- 
trol of  some  central  authority  and  the  toll  system. 

SYSTEM   OF   CONTROL   BY   PRIVATE   CORPORATIONS 

The  consideration  of  the  toll  system  may  be  shortly 
made  by  a  slight  study  as  to  the  effect  which  it  has  on  the 
development  of  a  community,  and  the  tolerance  by  that 
community  of  the  method.  The  best  illustration  which  is 
to  be  had  of  this  method  is  to  be  found  in  the  common- 
wealth of  Kentucky,  where  practically  all  the  important 
highways,  to  the  extent  of  several  thousand  miles  in  length, 
are  held  by  corporations.  In  the  beginning  of  the  develop- 
ment of  Kentucky  the  toll  system  proved  very  advanta- 
geous. The  great  highway  connecting  that  commonwealth 
with  West  Virginia  through  Cumberland  Gap  was  built 
and  maintained,  and  is  still  owned,  by  the  Wilderness 
Turnpike  Company.  So  long  as  the  travel  over  this  road 
was  large  in  amount  it  was  kept  in  excellent  order,  being 
at  one  time  in  the  early  part  of  this  century  by  far  the 
best-conditioned  highway  of  considerable  extent  south  of 
the  Potomac ;  it  was  claimed,  indeed,  that  it  was  the  best 
in  the  United  States.  As  the  traffic  over  the  road  has 
fallen  away,  the  revenues  from  it  have  been  too  limited 
even  to  keep  the  road  in  condition  for  travel,  and  yet  the 
system  of  toll-gates  has  been  maintained.  The  writer  has 
paid  a  toU  of  two  dollars  in  passing  one  of  the  gates, 
which  are  about  seventy  miles  apart,  although  he  found 

6* 


94  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

it  necessary  to  take  tools  in  the  wagon  in  order  that  he 
might  be  able  to  repair  portions  of  the  way  which  were 
really  impassable.  In  the  greater  part  of  Kentucky,  par- 
ticularly in  the  limestone  districts,  the  toll-roads  are  main- 
tained in  a  very  good  state  of  repair.  The  tax  on  a  two- 
horse  farm- wagon  for  a  round  journey  is  about  three  cents 
a  mile.  On  pleasure  carriages,  as  they  are  classed,  it  is 
often  at  a  much  higher  rate.  In  general,  where  these 
roads  have  not  been  paralleled  by  railways,  they  have 
proved  exceedingly  profitable  investments  to  the  stock- 
holders, many  of  them  at  the  present  time  paying  divi- 
dends of  from  ten  to  twenty  per  cent,  per  annum.  Under 
these  conditions  the  roads  are,  as  might  be  expected,  main- 
tained in  an  extremely  costly  manner.  The  stone  is 
broken  by  hand,  is  applied  without  the  use  of  rollers,  the 
bridges  are  very  poor,  and  no  effort  whatever  is  made  to 
better  the  grades  of  the  original  construction,  which  in 
almost  all  cases  are  extremely  bad.  The  effect  of  all  this 
is  to  put  a  very  heavy  tax  upon  the  farming  class.  The 
roads  are  mostly  held  by  the  capitalists  of  the  towns,  and 
are  administered  solely  with  reference  to  dividends.  In 
this  way  the  free  intercourse  of  the  people  is  obstructed ; 
the  country  folk  of  the  poorer  sort  often  cannot  afford  to 
make  any  journeys  save  those  which  are  certain  to  bring 
them  a  good  money  return.  Even  the  attendance  on  the 
schools  is  hindered  by  the  fact  that  children  often  cannot 
be  transported  to  these  institutions,  which  in  a  sparsely 
settled  country  such  as  Kentucky  are  often  remote  from 
the  dwellings.  Thus,  although  in  opening  a  country  to 
settlement  the  system  of  toll-roads  is  often  advantageous, 
in  that  it  may  persuade  capitalists  to  make  improvements 
which  the  frontiersman  cannot  afford,  the  eventual  influ- 
ence is  to  retard,  or  even  to  completely  arrest,  the  full  de- 


THE  GOVERNMENTAL  RELATIONS  OF  ROADS       95 

velopment  of  the  economic  life  of  those  who  dwell  on  the 
land. 

The  general  condemnation  of  the  toll-road  system  is  seen 
in  the  fact  that  such  roads  have  been  completely  abolished 
in  the  greater  part  of  the  prosperous  eastern  sections  of 
this  country,  as  well  as  in  the  Old  World.  Any  exten- 
sion of  the  method  would  be  distinctly  against  the  best 
interests  of  the  people,  save,  as  before  remarked,  in  the 
frontier  districts,  where  in  all  cases  the  eventual  freeing 
of  the  ways  should  be  provided  for.  One  of  these  methods 
is  by  requiring  that  a  portion  of  the  money  received  for 
tolls  should  be  used  as  a  sinking-fund  to  retire  the  stock 
of  the  corporation. 

METHODS   OF   CONTROL  BY   THE   STATE 

Dismissing  as  we  must  the  idea  of  bettering  our  Ameri- 
can highways  by  toll-roads,  and  abandoning,  for  the  rea- 
son that  it  has  been  condemned  by  experience,  the  plan 
of  controlling  these  ways  by  local  boards,  we  are  forced 
to  consider  the  action  of  central  authorities— those  of  the 
State  or  that  of  the  federal  government.  Although  there 
have  been  several  propositions  brought  before  Congress 
for  action  on  the  part  of  the  federal  government  looking 
to  the  institution  of  a  sj^stem  of  national  ways  which  should 
afford  substantial  relief  to  all  parts  of  the  country,  it  is 
futile  to  expect  a  betterment  from  this  source  of  authority. 
The  theory,  and  the  mechanism  alike,  of  our  federal  govern- 
ment is  opposed  to  any  such  local  work  as  would  be  neces- 
sary to  provide  a  proper  system  of  intercommunication 
throughout  all  parts  of  the  land.  It  would  not  be  unrea- 
sonable, if  highways  were  used  as  grand  routes  for  march- 
ing armies  across  the  wide  country,  to  expect  a  construe- 


96  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

tion  of  certain  national  roads ;  but  in  the  present  condition 
of  our  transportation  system  the  ordinary  highways  are  of 
small  account  for  long  journeys ;  rarely,  indeed,  even  in 
the  present  incomplete  state  of  our  railwa}^  system,  does  a 
wagon  convey  its  load  for  the  distance  of  more  than  thirty 
miles.  Thus  our  highways  have  become  matters  of  local 
interest,  and  are  therefore  properly  outside  of  the  consider- 
ation of  the  federal  government. 

It  is  otherwise  within  the  limits  of  our  separate  States. 
Those  units  of  government  are,  with  the  possible  exception 
of  Texas,  sufficiently  limited  as  regards  area  and  suffi- 
ciently united  in  purpose  to  make  it  fit  that  the  authorities 
of  each  commonwealth  should  undertake  to  control  the 
main  highways  within  its  bounds.  The  method  of  repre- 
sentation in  the  State  legislatures  is  such  as  is  likely  to" 
secure  proper  attention,  on  the  part  of  a  State  board  hav- 
ing the  matter  of  highways  in  hand,  to  each  of  the  local 
divisions  under  its  administration.  Moreover,  as  our  State 
governments  are  usually  supported  by  direct  taxation,  it 
is  the  interest  of  the  central  authority  to  develop  the  eco- 
nomic resources  of  every  portion  of  the  area. 

To  show  the  need  of  interference  on  the  part  of  the 
commonwealth  in  its  road  system,  it  may  be  well  to  note 
the  results  of  two  and  a  half  centuries  of  experience  with 
the  highway  problem  in  Massachusetts.  Although  this 
State  is,  for  its  area,  perhaps  the  wealthiest  in  the  Union, 
and  has  been  characterized  by  a  large  measure  of  public 
spirit,  its  highways  are,  with  rare  exceptions,  in  a  very 
unsatisfactory  state.  Four  years  ago,  after  a  long-con- 
tinued debate  and  many  experiments  in  the  management 
of  the  highways,  the  legislature  provided  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  commission  to  take  account  as  to  the  condition 
of  the  country  roads.     The  report  of  this  commission,  ot 


THE  GOVERNMENTAL  RELATIONS  OF  ROADS   99 

which  the  writer  was  a  member,  showed  that  by  far  the 
greater  number  of  the  towns  in  the  commonwealth  were 
very  ill  provided  with  means  of  communication  leading 
either  to  adjacent  towns  or  to  the  main  railways.  Some 
of  these  remoter  towns  were,  measured  in  cost  of  transpor- 
tation of  a  ton  of  freight  to  Boston,  further  removed  from 
that  city  than  Omaha,  Nebraska.  In  making  the  survey 
of  the  roads  of  the  commonwealth  the  commission  followed 
the  plan  of  sending  photographers  along  certain  of  the 
more  important  through  routes  with  directions  to  take 
views  of  the  road  at  intervals  of  a  mile.  The  result  of 
this  presentation  was  very  impressive.  It  showed  that 
for  many  months  in  the  year  long  stretches  of  these  main 
ways  were  unfit  for  use  by  loaded  vehicles.  The  testimony 
taken  at  many  hearings  held  by  the  commission  showed 
very  clearly  that  the  tax  upon  the  industries  of  the  com- 
monwealth due  to  bad  roads  probably  exceeded  all  the 
other  imposts  upon  the  agi'icultural  lands.  It  became  in- 
deed evident  that  the  abandonment  of  farms,  so  common 
in  many  portions  of  the  State,  was  largely  to  be  explained 
by  the  bad  condition  of  the  roads,  and  the  consequent  bur- 
den upon  the  economies  of  the  people.  The  result  of 
this  presentation,  made  in  the  report  of  the  commission 
for  1892,  was  the  passage  of  a  bill  which  provided  a  means 
whereby  a  commission  to  be  appointed  under  the  act 
should  accept  as  State  roads  the  more  important  rural 
ways  of  the  commonwealth. 

SYSTEM   OF   MASSACHUSETTS 

Although  Massachusetts  began  the  new  system  of  State 
highways  some  years  after  the  State  of  New  Jersey  under- 
took a  plan  for  the  general  betterment  of  her  roads,  the 


100  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

plan  of  the  first-named  commonwealth  is  one  that  provides 
more  distinctly  for  State  interference  than  does  that  of 
the  more  southern  community.  In  fact,  the  Massachusetts 
system  has  become,  in  a  somewhat  general  way,  accepted 
as  the  most  promising  experiment  in  the  direction  of  State 
interference  with  road  construction.  It  will  be  well,  there- 
fore, briefly  to  set  forth  the  method  which  is  pursued  in 
that  State. 

In  all  parts  of  this  country  the  desu^e  of  the  people  to 
retain  control  of  their  local  affairs  is  strong.  That  state  of 
mind  is  indeed  the  safest  index  of  a  true  democracy.  The 
town  organization  of  Massachusetts  gives  to  the  three 
hundred  and  fifty  small  municipalities  a  very  large  share 
in  the  management  of  their  own  affah-s.  This  system  has 
existed  since  the  early  colonial  history  of  the  common- 
wealth. On  this  account  the  law  providing  for  the  insti- 
tution of  a  State  Board  of  Highway  Commissioners  (see 
Appendix  A)  made  it  impossible  for  that  commission  to 
consider  the  question  of  accepting  as  a  State  road  any 
way  which  had  not  been  petitioned  for  either  by  the 
selectmen  of  a  town,  the  mayor  and  aldermen  of  a  city,  or 
the  county  commissioners  of  some  one  of  the  fourteen 
counties  in  the  State.  Whenever  the  commission,  after 
receiving  a  petition  from  any  of  the  authorities  above 
mentioned,  accompanied  with  a  plan  and  profile  of  the 
proposed  way,  adjudge  that  the  public  convenience  and 
necessity  require  that  the  State  should  take  possession  of 
the  way,  they  file  a  plan  of  the  same,  together  with  a  dec- 
laration of  the  appropriation  of  the  road,  in  the  clerk's 
office  of  the  county  in  which  the  road  lies.  After  thus 
taking  control  of  a  way  it  has  in  all  cases  been  found 
necessary  to  reconstruct  it.  The  mode  in  which  this  work 
is  done  depends  upon  the  needs  of  the  traffic  which  is  to 


THE  GOVERNMENTAL  RELATIONS  OF  ROADS      101 

be  accommodated  by  the  way.  Of  the  seventy  roads  which 
have  been  accepted  by  the  commission,  all  save  two  have 
been  rebuilt  with  the  nse  of  broken  stone,  and  where  ne- 
cessary of  Telford  foundations.  The  exceptions  include 
one  road  hardened  with  gravel,  and  one  which  is  to  be 
built  with  granite-block  pavements. 

METHODS   OF    BUILDING    STATE    ROADS    IN   MASSACHUSETTS 

In  substantially  all  cases  it  has  been  found  necessary  to 
reform  the  grades  of  the  ways  which  have  been  acquired 
by  the  State,  and  in  some  instances  it  has  appeared  neces- 
sary to  change  the  original  position  of  the  road,  so  as  to 
diminish  the  steepness  of  the  grades  or  to  better  the  natu- 
ral foundations.  In  general  the  roads  thus  constructed 
have  a  width  of  location  of  from  forty  to  sixty  feet. 
Where,  as  was  found  to  be  the  case  in  most  instances,  the 
right  of  way  was  less  than  forty  feet  in  width,  it  has 
almost  always  appeared  necessary  to  insist  on  the  muni- 
cipality acquiring  such  land  as  was  necessary  to  give  at 
least  fifty  feet  for  the  possible  future  extensions  in  the 
width  of  the  pavement  and  sidewalks.  Where  it  has 
seemed  likely  that  the  location  would  have  to  afford  a 
place  for  an  electric  railway,  effort  has  always  been  made 
to  obtain  a  width  of  not  less  than  sixty  feet,  it  being 
evident  that  a  double-track  tramroad  could  not  find  a 
place  in  a  location  of  less  width  without  cramping  the 
wheelway  or  the  sidewalks. 

After  much  consideration  the  commissioners  determined 
to  limit  in  general  the  width  of  the  worked  road  to  about 
twenty-six  feet,  three  feet  on  each  side  being  allowed 
for  the  gutters.  Within  these  limits,  three  feet  on  each 
side  are  allowed  for  the  shoulders  of  the  way  and  fifteen 


102  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

feet  for  the  hardened  part  of  the  road,  that  which  is  paved 
with  the  usual  depth  of  broken  stone,  though  the  shoulders 
are  also,  in  most  cases,  in  a  measure  hardened  either  by 
a  coating  of  gravel  about  four  inches  in  thickness  or  by 
a  similar  coating  of  broken  stone  of  small  size,  where 
gravel  cannot  be  obtained. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  task  of  construction  the  people 
of  the  country  seriously  objected  to  the  narrowness  of 
the  hardened  way,  claiming  that  it  was  insufficient  for 
the  needs  of  travel  on  any  but  the  least  frequented  roads. 
The  commission,  however,  had  made  its  determination  on 
the  basis  of  a  careful  measurement  as  to  the  width  of  the 
traveled  portion  of  a  great  many  much-used  country  roads. 
The  experience  of  two  years  has  affirmed  the  conclusion  that 
fifteen  feet  is  usually  a  sufficient  width  for  a  wheel  way,  pro- 
vided there  is  an  additional  marginal  extension  of  the  road 
in  the  way  of  shoulders,  which  are  covered,  as  noted,  with 
a  resistant  coating,  upon  which  carriages  may  occasionally 
turn  out  without  any  risk  of  seriously  rutting  the  surface. 
So  satisfactory  has  this  experience  been  that  one  main 
road  in  Dukes  County  was  last  year  built  with  a  width 
of  twelve  feet  of  broken  stone.  This  way,  which  may  be 
termed  of  the  third  order  of  importance,  having  a  daily 
passage  each  way  on  the  average  of  from  forty  to  fifty 
vehicles,  has  proved  sufficiently  wide  for  the  needs.  It 
should  be  noted,  however,  that  though  the  hardened  por- 
tion of  the  road  is  narrowed,  the  distance  between  the 
outer  angles  of  the  shoulders  is  kept  the  same,  so  that  if 
at  the  time  of  general  repairs  it  should  appear  desirable 
to  widen  the  hardened  section,  it  can  be  done  without 
much  cost. 

As  will  be  seen  from  the  specifications  (see  Appendix  A), 
as  well  as  from  the  law  constituting  the  commission,  pro- 


THE  GOVERNMENTAL  RELATIONS  OF  ROADS     103 

vision  is  made  for  two  modes  of  contracting  for  the  con- 
struction of  State  highways  in  Massachusetts.  On  the 
basis  of  an  estimate  of  costs  made  by  the  commission,  the 
town  authorities  or  those  of  the  cities  may  make  direct 
and  non-competitive  contracts  for  building  the  road.  If, 
after  thirty  days  from  the  time  of  receiving  notice  that 
the  commissioners  are  ready  to  make  such  contracts,  the 
municipal  authorities  neglect  or  decline  the  arrangement, 
the  work  is  advertised  and  let  to  the  lowest  bidder,  with 
the  limitation  that  the  contract  has  to  be  approved  by  the 
governor  and  council.  Under  either  of  these  conditions 
of  contract,  the  commissioners  place  a  resident  engineer 
on  the  work,  who,  following  carefully  arranged  printed 
instructions,  sees  that  the  requirements  are  exactly  ful- 
filled. He,  moreover,  obtains  data  which  will  enable  the 
commission  exactly  to  reckon  the  cost  of  the  undertaking ; 
not  only  in  general,  but  with  reference  to  each  item  in 
great  detail,  so  that  information  may  be  had  which  will 
serve  to  guide  in  making  future  estimates.  The  result  of 
this  system  has  been  that  the  towns,  by  far  the  greater 
part  of  the  number  of  those  that  have  taken  contracts, 
have  accomplished  their  task  with  insignificant  profit  or 
loss.  In  a  few  cases,  where  political  influence  or  per- 
sonal favor  has  entered  into  the  work,  the  usual  result  of 
such  illegitimate  motives  has  been  found  in  the  more  or 
less  considerable  excess  of  expenditures. 

The  advantages  arising  from  contracting  with  the  towns 
are  numerous  and  go  far  to  countervail  a  certain  increased 
cost,  probably  not  more  than  from  five  to  ten  per  cent., 
which  is  brought  about  by  this  method  of  doing  the  work. 
In  the  first  place,  in  practically  aU  cases  the  task  of  build- 
ing the  road  is  altogether  done  by  the  citizens  of  the  town, 
so  that,  guided  by  the  resident  engineer,  the  people  learn 


104  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

how  a  good  road  should  be  built.  It  often  happens  that 
from  thirty  to  fifty  persons  acquire  more  or  less  of  this 
knowledge,  and  thereby  become  critics  of  no  mean  order 
as  to  the  conditions  of  highway  construction  in  their  own 
district.  In  several  instances  it  has  come  about  that  no 
sooner  was  the  town  done  with  the  work  on  a  State  road 
than  it  has  turned  at  once  to  the  construction  of  its  local 
ways  on  the  same  general  plan.  Moreover,  with  a  con- 
siderable assured  contract  in  hand,  many  towns  have  been 
induced  to  purchase  road-building  machinery,  particularly 
crushers  and  roUers.  The  possession  of  such  apparatus 
leads  naturally  to  a  better  system  of  ways  in  the  commu- 
nity which  owns  them.  Not  the  least  of  the  advantages 
of  the  plan  of  contracting  with  the  towns,  one  which  is 
very  much  appreciated  by  these  social  units,  is  that  it 
avoids  the  evils  arising  from  private  contractors  bringing 
alien  laborers  within  their  limits.  These  imported  work- 
men not  onty  deprive  the  citizens  of  employment  which 
they  value,  but  it  often  comes  about  that  the  least  worthy 
of  the  gang  are  left  in  the  community,  to  become  undesira- 
ble citizens  or  perhaps  paupers.  Of  the  ninety-four  or 
more  contracts  made  by  the  Massachusetts  Highway  Com- 
mission only  five  were  awarded  to  private  contractors. 

At  first  sight  it  may  seem  impossible,  under  a  system 
which  does  not  permit  a  commission  to  determine  of  its 
own  instance  the  position  of  local  ways,  to  connect  these 
roads  in  such  manner  that  they  will  serve  not  only  the  in- 
terests of  the  community  which  may  petition  for  them, 
but  also  those  of  the  commonwealth  as  a  whole.  Experi- 
ence, however,  has  shown  that  even  where  the  petitions 
come  not  from  the  county  commissioners,  but  altogether 
from  the  municipal  authorities,  it  is  by  no  means  difiieult, 
by  preliminary  conferences  with  the  people  of  the  commu- 


THE   GOVERNMENTAL   RELATIONS   OF   ROADS     105 

nity,  to  have  tlie  applications  so  determined  that  an  ex- 
tended system  can  be  arranged  as  effectively  as  though 
the  separate  pieces  of  road  were  selected  by  the  State 
board.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  this  board  is  not  com- 
pelled to  accept  any  way  save  where,  in  its  opinion,  the 
pnbhc  convenience  and  necessity  demand  its  taking  over 
by  the  State.  This  option  has,  together  with  the  good 
sense  of  the  people  concerned,  made  it  easy  in  all  cases  to 
arrange  for  benefiting  the  petitioners  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  undertaking  shall  relate  to  others  in  the  same 
field. 

The  first  enactment  concerning  the  commission  pro- 
vided that  two  or  more  cities  or  towns  should  join  in  the 
same  petition.  Objections  to  this  requirement  arose  from 
the  natural  jealousies  of  neighbors,  and  on  this  account 
the  law  has  been  changed  so  that  a  single  municipality  is 
competent  to  petition.  Experience  has  shown  that  the 
commission  can  arrange  more  effectively  than  the  law  for 
community  of  interests  as  regards  the  location  of  the  in- 
tertown  ways. 

It  will  be  observed  that  under  the  Massachusetts  system 
the  commonwealth  bears  three  fourths  of  the  expense  of 
constructing  and  maintaining  the  State  ways.  One  fourth 
of  the  total  is  taxed  upon  the  counties,  v/ith  a  provision 
for  repayment  distributed  over  a  term  of  years.  It  has 
been  proposed  that  a  portion  of  the  charge  be  laid  upon 
the  city  or  town  in  which  the  work  lies.  Although  there 
appears  at  first  sight  to  be  a  measure  of  justice  in  this  ar- 
rangement, it  has  the  disadvantage  that  it  wUl  heavily  tax 
some  of  the  communities  which  most  need  the  benefits  to 
be  derived  from  the  State-road  system.  Many  of  the 
towns  in  Massachusetts  have  a  total  valuation  of  less  than 
half  a  million  dollars.     Several  of  these  poorer  communi- 


106  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

ties  require  the  construction  of  from  three  to  five  miles 
of  road.  Any  plan  which  would  assess  a  material  portion 
of  the  cost  of  such  ways  on  the  towns  would  be  hurtful  in 
that  it  would  for  many  years  bring  the  tax  levy  above  the 
endurable  point,  thus  leading  to  further  pauperizing  of 
the  communities  which  it  is  designed  in  an  economic  way 
to  better. 

The  aim  of  the  Massachusetts  commission  has  been  to 
distribute  its  constructions  over  the  State  with  reference 
to  various  classes  of  needs.  In  the  first  place,  it  has  en- 
deavored to  better  the  important  roads  which  are  already 
of  much  value  to  the  industries  of  the  commonwealth. 
In  many  cases  a  main  way  which  is  costly  to  maintain 
and  which  principally  concerns  two  rich  communities 
passes  through  a  poor  town,  which  has  unfairly  to  bear 
the  cost  of  repairs,  with  the  result  that  the  road  generally 
falls  into  very  ill  condition.  In  the  next  place,  endeavor 
has  been  made  to  better  the  situation  of  certain  towns 
which,  owing  to  their  distance  from  the  main  centers  as 
well  as  to  the  neglected  state  of  the  roads  connecting 
with  their  markets,  are  incapable  of  developing  industries 
and  are  often  in  course  of  decay.  The  aim  is  to  provide 
these  places  with  at  least  one  first-class  main  road  giving 
access  to  markets.  The  effect  of  these  improvements, 
though  they  are  but  in  their  inception,  has  alread}?-  begun 
to  be  felt.  A  number  of  the  hill  towns  of  the  Berkshire 
district  are  now  being  approached  by  State  roads.  There 
has  already  been  in  anticipation  of  the  benefit  a  rise  in 
the  value  of  their  lands,  and  the  people  are  looking  for- 
ward to  utilizing  the  water-power  and  the  timber  resources 
which  abound  in  that  part  of  the  country. 


THE  GOVERNMENTAL  RELATIONS  OF  ROADS     107 


IVIETHODS   OF   SUPERVISING  ROADS 

As  yet,  owing  to  the  fact  that  none  of  the  Massachusetts 
roads  have  been  two  years  in  use,  the  problem  as  to  the 
method  of  repairing  them  has  not  been  fully  determined. 
It  seems  likely,  however,  that  the  best  plan  will  be  to  com- 
mit this  matter  to  the  town  authorities,  thej  undertaking, 
on  the  order  of  the  chief  engineer,  to  keep  a  watch  upon 
the  ways,  which  will  furthermore  be  inspected  each  month 
by  an  officer  of  the  board.  This  system  appears  to  be  de- 
sirable for  the  same  reason  that  warrants  the  endeavor  to 
have  the  construction  effected  by  the  local  authorities. 
Where  the  officers  of  a  municipality  become  accustomed 
to  keep  one  or  more  of  their  main  ways  in  perfect  repair, 
they  will  be  more  likely  to  deal  in  a  like  careful  m.anner 
with  those  for  which  they  alone  are  responsible.  Thus 
the  educative  effect  of  this  system  promises  to  be  not  the 
least  portion  of  its  advantages. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  plan  of  turning  over  the 
care  of  State  highways  to  the  municipal  authorities,  under 
the  supervision  of  the  State  board,  is  a  distinct  departure 
from  the  methods  pursued  in  France  and  other  European 
countries.  In  those  lands  the  roads  are  altogether  man- 
aged by  the  central  authority.  It  will  probably  be  found 
in  our  American  conditions  that  the  concession  to  local 
pride  and  prejudice  will  have  to  be  made,  and  that  by 
making  it  a  decided  gain  will  be  secured  which  could  be 
obtained  in  no  other  way. 

It  will  be  well  to  say  that,  while  the  law  does  not  per- 
mit any  State  road  to  be  torn  up  without  the  consent  of 
the  commission,  the  local  authorities  have  a  right  to  take 
such  action  as  may  seem  necessary  to  meet  the  needs  aris- 

7 


108  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

ing  from  accidents.  Moreover,  under  the  laws  which  at 
present  exist,  the  right  of  granting  concessions,  as  for  the 
passage  of  a  street-railway,  appears  still  to  reside  in  the 
municipalities,  and,  though  the  roads  could  not  be  dis- 
turbed for  any  such  purpose  without  the  consent  of  the 
commission,  it  seems  possible  that  the  courts  might  force 
that  consent.  It  is  an  open  question  whether  it  may  not 
be  best  to  extend  the  control  of  the  State  board  so  that 
placing  street-railways  within  the  limits  of  the  location 
might  be  at  its  discretion. 

RELATION   OP   ELECTRIC    ROADS   TO   HIGHWAYS 

The  recent  extension  of  electric  railways  into  the  coun- 
try districts,  a  feature  which  promises  to  be  a  revolution- 
ary innovation  in  our  methods  of  transportation,  is  likely 
to  make  certain  necessary  changes  in  our  highway  system. 
In  the  first  place,  as  before  noted,  the  conjunction  of  a 
tramway  and  a  public  road  requires  a  wider  location. 
Where,  as  is  often  the  case,  the  railway  needs  to  be  pro- 
vided with  double  tracks,  the  Massachusetts  commission 
has  insisted  that  the  location  or  right  of  way  of  the  road 
shall  be  wide  enough  to  admit  placing  these  tracks  in  the 
middle,  with  the  improved  road  on  one  or  both  sides  of 
the  rails.  On  the  supposition  that  there  are  to  be  side- 
walks having  a  width  of  not  less  than  seven  feet,  gutters 
on  each  side  of  an  aggregate  width  of  six  feet,  and  that 
the  hardened  way  will  eventually  be  in  two  sections,  each 
fifteen  feet  wide,  on  each  side  of  the  strip  occupied  by 
the  rails,  the  location  should  have  a  width  of  not  less  than 
sixty-six  feet.  Where  there  is  no  reasonable  expectation 
of  more  than  a  single-track  tramway,  it  is  clearly  best  that 
it  should  be  placed  on  one  side  of  the  road,  not  being 


THE   GOVEENMENTAL   RELATIONS   OF   EOADS      109 

allowed  to  cross  from  side  to  side  as  is  often  the  case.  In 
this  arrangement  the  minim  am  width  of  the  location 
shonld  he  fifty  feet— it  had  best  be  sixty  feet.  It  will  be 
observed  that  the  estimates  for  width  as  above  given  for 
streets  which  are  to  be  occupied  by  iron  ways  a,re  the  least 
which  wiU  permit  a  convenient  development  of  the  two 
methods  of  travel  beside  each  other.  In  the  opinion  of 
the  writer,  a  street  which  is  to  have  a  double-track  railway 
should  have  a  width  of  not  less  than  seventy-five  feet. 
This  will  permit  the  construction  of  sufiiciently  wide  side- 
walks and  also  of  a  row  of  trees,  with  or  without  a  narrow 
grass  strip  on  each  side  of  the  double-track  railway. 
Such  a  provision  is  most  desirable,  not  only  for  the  general 
effect  of  the  way,  but  also  to  prevent  the  excessive  develop- 
ment of  dust  which  is  apt  to  take  place  where  there  is  a 
broad  ungrassed  tract  of  land  such  as  would  otherwise  exist. 
It  has  been  objected  that,  as  the  electric  roads  are  in 
the  control  of  private  corporations,  the  exacting  of  toll 
for  theii'  services  justifies  demands  that  they  be  required 
to  provide  their  own  locations.  Granting  the  equity  of 
this  claim,  it  may  be  said  that  these  roads  are  public  con- 
veniences of  a  high  order  of  value  ;  that  they  wiU  not  serve 
the  people  so  well  in  any  other  position  as  on  the  main 
highways,  and,  furthermore,  that  their  use  for  passengers, 
and  in  time  for  freight  as  well,  mil  diminish  the  traffic 
tax  on  the  ordinary  roads  which  they  parallel.  These 
considerations  seemed  sufficient  to  warrant  the  authorities 
in  endeavoring  at  once  to  provide  ample  width  of  location 
for  aU  the  roads  which  these  tramways  are  likely  to 
traverse. 

Experience  has  shown  that,  under  the  Massachusetts 
laws,  a  State  board  is  likely  to  be  fairly  inundated  with  pe- 


110  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

titions  for  the  acceptance  of  ways  by  the  State.  In  almost 
all  cases  the  effort  is  natural  for  each  community  to  get  rid 
of  the  large  impost  occasioned  by  the  most  important  and 
worst-conditioned  of  its  roads.  It  has  been  the  policy  of 
the  Massachusetts  commission  to  accept  those  ways  which 
were  most  important  and  most  defective^  and  in  proceed- 
ing with  the  reconstruction  of  any  of  these  ways  to  take  at 
once  what  may  be  called  the  critical  portions  of  the  line ; 
that  is,  if  a  petition  covered  five  miles  of  road,  and  there 
was  a  section  one  mile  in  length  which,  from  its  state  as 
regarded  grades  or  foundation,  was  the  most  difficult  to 
build  and  maintain,  work  was  begun  on  that  portion.  The 
result  is  necessarily  that  the  pieces  of  road,  numbering  in 
all  about  ninety  and  amounting  to  a  total  of  about  eighty 
miles,  which  have  been  built  have  cost,  including  the  pro- 
portion of  office  and  other  expenses  as  well  as  construc- 
tion, a  total  of  rather  more  than  seven  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  The  exact  sum  is  not  at  present  statable  for  the 
reason  that  sundry  of  the  undertakings  require  a  certain 
amount  of  expenditure  before  they  will  be  completed.  In 
other  words,  the  average  cost  of  these  worst  pieces  of  way 
in  the  commonwealth  has  been  about  nine  thousand  dol- 
lars a  mile.  As  will  be  noted  in  another  chapter,  this  ex- 
penditure, made  upon  peculiarly  bad  ground,  is  probably 
at  least  one  third  greater  than  that  which  will  be  required 
per  mile  to  provide  high-grade  rural  ways. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  RELATION  OF  PUBLIC  WAYS  TO  THE  ORNAMENTA- 
TION OF  A  COUNTRY 

Esthetic  conditions  of  roads.    Roadside  trees.    Roadside  plantations. 
Roadside  parks.     Water-supply  on  roads.     Bridges 

IT  is  a  good  feature  of  our  day  that  the  people  of  this 
country,  so  long  neglectful  of  all  considerations  of 
beauty  in  the  landscape  about  them,  have  not  only  become 
interested  in  that  element  of  culture,  but  are  wilhng  to 
make  considerable  sacrifices  in  order  to  adorn  the  land 
about  their  dwelling-places.  Inasmuch,  therefore,  as  roads 
are  important  elements  in  a  landscape,  serving  greatly  to 
elevate  or  to  debase  the  view,  it  seems  fit  to  give  some  at- 
tention to  the  esthetic  quality  of  roads. ^ 

In  general  it  may  be  said  that  in  proportion  as  a  road 
is  so  laid  out  and  built  as  properly  to  serve  the  needs  of 
the  country  it  traverses,  it  fits  harmoniously  with  its  natu- 
ral features.  Thus  a  way  which  is  accommodated  to  the 
irregularities  of  the  surface,  and  which  is  evidently  so 
placed  as  to  afford  an  easy  route  into  the  land,  almost  al- 
ways if  well  built  is  a  gracious  addition  to  the  prospect. 

1  Mr.  H.  Langford  Warren,  now  professor  of  architecture  in  the 
Lawrence  Scientific  School  of  Harvard  University,  has  written  an 
excellent  short  paper  on  this  subject,  entitled,  "A  Plea  for  Esthetic 
Considerations  in  Building  Roads."  (See  '' Pavements  and  Roads," 
E.  G.  Love,  editor,  New  York,  1890.) 
7*  111 


112  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

If,  on  tlie  other  liand,  it  is  forced  across  the  field  of  view, 
chmbing  the  hills  abruptly  and  in  other  ways  disobeying 
the  injunctions  of  nature,  the  effect  may  be  in  a  high 
measure  offensive.  With  roads,  as  with  the  other  features 
of  human  handiwork,  they  may  enter  into  the  nature  about 
them,  becoming  agreeable  marks  of  the  hand  of  man,  or 
they  may  show  him  to  be  an  offender  against  the  order 
of  the  world. 

j 

ESTHETIC   CONDITIONS   OF   ROADS 

The  first  prescription  for  the  construction  of  a  road 
which  is  to  add  to  and  not  detract  from  the  beauty  of  a 
vista  is  that  it  shall  not  be  obtrusive.  This  element  of 
offense  may  be  avoided  by  keeping  the  way  on  easy  grades, 
so  that  it  may  not  appear,  as  some  roads  do,  as  if  hung 
against  the  hills.  The  second  point  is  to  avoid  an  unne- 
cessary width  of  the  traveled  way.  A  road  having  a  pave- 
ment not  more  than  fifteen  feet  wide  appears  from  any 
point  of  view  as  a  thread  in  the  landscape,  while  if  allowed 
to  come  into  the  condition  of  many  of  our  country  roads, 
where  a  space  fifty  or  sixty  feet  in  width  is  plowed  by 
irregularly  disposed  ruts,  the  impression  made  upon  the 
eye  is  disproportionately  great. 

In  practice,  where  beauty  and  utility  as  well  are  sought, 
the  shoulders  of  the  road  should  be  kept  in  grass.  Where 
the  gutters  are  not  paved  in  the  manner  described  in  the 
chapters  on  construction,  it  is  best  that  they  also  should 
be  kept  in  a  close  sod.  The  slopes  left  in  grading  should 
be  brought  to  a  declivity  of  not  more  than  about  thirty 
degrees,  sown  in  grass  or  planted  with  some  coarser  vege- 
tation. For  this  purpose  varieties  of  coniferous  trees  are 
often  the  best  adapted. 


RELATION  OF  PUBLIC  WAYS  TO  ORNAMENTATION    113 


ROADSIDE    TREES 

It  is  a  good  custom  in  all  countries  where  roads  are  well 
cared  for  to  plant  trees  along  their  margin.  Usually  these 
plantations  are  made  in  single  rows  of  equally  spaced 
plants  just  outside  of  the  gutters.  This  arrangement  has 
its  convenience,  and  where  the  object  is  to  shade  the  way 
the  plan  commends  itself.  In  general,  however,  experi- 
ence is  against  any  form  of  tree-planting  wherever  the 
road,  unless  it  be  a  mere  single-track  lane,  has  not  been 
provided  with  some  kind  of  firm  pavement.  In  summer 
on  "  dirt  roads  "  the  tendency  of  anything  like  a  complete 
shade  is  to  keep  the  way  much  too  wet.  The  trees  if  they 
are  strong-growing  are  apt  to  extend  their  roots  under  the 
gutters,  and  even  beneath  the  roadway,  in  such  a  manner 
that  in  course  of  time  the}^  tend  to  disrupt  the  structure. 
In  the  winter  season  the  effect  on  snow  is  also  damaging. 
If  there  be  open  country  on  either  side  of  the  plantations, 
the  diminution  in  the  speed  of  the  wind  when  it  passes 
through  the  trees  is  often  sufficient  to  bring  about  the  ac- 
cumulation of  snow-drifts.  In  some  parts  of  this  country 
the  breaking  out  of  snow-drifts  is  one  of  the  most  consid- 
erable elements  in  the  cost  of  keeping  highways  in  con- 
dition for  traveling.  There  is  furthermore  an  artificial 
quality  given  by  regular  lines  of  trees,  which,  however, 
may  be  compensated  for  by  their  stateliness,  or,  where  they 
have  a  columnar  growth  such  as  characterizes  the  Lom- 
bardy  poplar,  by  a  certain  architectural  effect. 

The  greatest  measure  of  adornment  of  a  road  is  accom- 
plished by  systematic  plantations  of  groups  of  trees  on 
either  side  of  a  traveled  way,  the  species  being  varied  and 
the  outline  of  the  plantations  toward  the  road  broken  so 


114  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

as  to  promote  pleasing  vistas.  Such  work  should,  if  pos- 
sible, be  planned  by  a  landscape  architect,  or  at  least  by 
a  person  who  is  familiar  with  the  expression  given  by 
trees  in  theii-  adult  growth.  The  result  of  such  planting 
is  to  afford,  even  within  a  narrow  belt,  the  effect  which  is 
obtained  in  the  higher  class  of  parkways.  If  the  road  is 
ahned  so  as  to  avoid  offensively  long,  straight  vistas,  the 
charm  thus  won  is  well  worth  the  trifling  expense  which 
it  entails. 

The  cost  of  systematically  planting,  under  ordinary 
conditions,  the  borders  of  a  highway,  including  the  price 
of  trees,  the  labor  of  proper  planting,  and  the  care  which 
is  demanded  for  the  plantations  until  thQy  are  able  to  shift 
for  themselves,  need  not  exceed  from  three  to  six  hundred 
dollars  to  the  mile.  There  is  probably  no  other  means  of 
rural  adornment  where  so  satisfactory  and  enduring  a  result 
can  be  obtained  in  a  short  time  and  at  so  little  expense. 

The  species  of  trees  to  be  used  in  roadside  plantations 
need  to  be  determined  in  relation  both  to  soil  and  climate. 
Probably  for  the  reason  that  the  early  plantations  of  elms 
in  rows  along  the  New  England  village  streets  proved 
successful,  the  growth  of  the  species  being  rapid  and  their 
forms  graceful,  the  elm  has  become  the  favored  street  tree 
in  all  the  Northern  and  Eastern  towns  of  this  country.  Of 
late  years,  however,  the  species  of  this  group  have  been 
so  much  preyed  upon  by  varieties  of  insects  which  are 
now  firmly  established  that  they  are  no  longer  to  be  recom- 
mended. Among  those  to  be  suggested  as  useful  are  the 
maple,  particularly  the  water  species,  though  the  ordinary 
rock-maple  is  also  serviceable,  the  red  oak,  and  the  syca- 
mores, which  in  damp  ground  grow  with  fair  rapidity  and 
have  very  beautiful  trunks  and  branches. 

Although  some  objection  has  been  made  to  the  nut-bear- 


RELATION  OF  PUBLIC  WAYS  TO  ORNAMENTATION   115 

ing  trees,  for  the  reason  that  they  tend  to  litter  the  way 
and  to  incite  boys  to  nse  them  roughly,  the  writer  is  dis- 
posed to  recommend  this  group  as  among  the  most  satis- 
factory for  road  trees  where  the  planting  is  to  be  in  single 
rows.  Of  these  nut-trees  the  hickories  and  walnuts  are 
clearly  the  best  for  ordinary  use.  The  various  species 
grow  well  on  most  soils,  except  the  more  arid,  and  they 
are  remarkably  exempt  from  insect  plagues.  They  are, 
moreover,  little  inclined  to  send  their  roots  horizontally 
to  a  great  distance.  Beeches  are  to  be  commended,  except 
for  theii'  very  slow  growth  and  the  fact  that  their  roots 
run  near  the  surface  of  the  ground.  In  many  parts  of 
Eui'ope  it  is  the  custom  to  plant  fruit-trees  next  the  way 
in  regular  lines.  Of  these  the  cherries  are  the  best  be- 
cause of  their  rather  dense  foliage.  In  the  Old  World  it 
is  well  understood  that  the  fruit  of  the  wayside  trees  be- 
longs to  the  proprietor  of  the  land,  and  it  is  safe  from 
marauding.  In  the  present  condition  of  the  sense  of  prop- 
erty in  this  country,  it  is  not  likely  that  the  fruit  would 
be  respected  by  the  wayfarers. 

The  planting  of  nut-trees  may  be  commended  for  the 
reason  that  there  is  now.  a  considerable  market  for  wal- 
nuts and  the  shagbark  hickories,  as  weU  as  certain  other 
species  such  as  the  pecans,  which  will  grow  in  the  region 
as  far  north  as  the  Ohio  Eiver.  Even  if  the  product  of 
these  trees  should  be  regarded  as  pubhc  property,  some 
profit  would  be  had  from  gathering  it.  At  any  rate,  the 
crop  would  afford  pleasure  to  the  young  people. 

ROADSIDE   PLANTATIONS 

An  opportunity  of  attaining  distinction  awaits  some  en- 
terprising community  which  wiU  undertake  to  make  its 


116  AMEEICAN  HIGHWAYS 

roadsides  in  the  springtime  an  exhibition  place  of  our 
flowering  trees.  Those  who  have  traveled  in  Japan  des- 
cant much  on  the  charm  or  even  the  splendor  which  the 
waysides  exhibit  in  the  time  when  the  cherries  blossom. 
The  variety  of  native  and  foreign  trees,  including  the  ca- 
talpaSj  the  so-called  Florida  dogwood,  the  redbuds,  etc.,  is 
such  that,  with  a  little  care  in  plantations,  a  marvelous 
floral  effect  could  be  produced.  A  similar  floral  exhibi- 
tion in  the  autumn  is  easily  winnable  by  the  use  of  the 
various  species  of  composite  flowers,  asters,  goldenrods,  and 
other  species,  which  readily  lend  themselves  to  plantations. 

ROADSIDE   PARKS 

Now  that  the  advantage  of  ]Dublic  reservations,  such  as 
parks,  is  much  considered  by  our  people,  it  appears  de- 
sirable to  organize  such  parks  or  commons  with  reference 
to  the  main  highw^ays.  On  almost  any  road  having  a 
length  of  three  miles  or  more  it  is  possible,  in  New  Eng- 
land at  least,  to  select  one  or  more  attractive  bits  of 
ground  which  may  be  devoted  to  this  use.  These  reser- 
vations need  not  be  of  considerable  area  in  order  to  obtain 
effective  results.  It  often  occurs  that  a  strip  of  land  next 
a  river  or  a  lake  which  is  skirted  by  the  road,  or  a  bit  of 
picturesque  rocky  ground,  can  be  obtained  by  gift  or  at  a 
low  money  cost  for  the  reason  that  the  place  has  no 
agricultural  value.  Although  it  is  desirable  that  these 
dedications  to  public  use  be  cared  for,  it  is  often  better 
that  they  should  be  left  in  their  simple  wilderness  state 
rather  than  be  made  the  seats  of  elaborate  ornamentation. 
A  study  of  Massachusetts  roads,  which  the  writer  has 
made  with  some  care,  indicates  that  a  thousand  reserva- 
tions of  the  nature  here  indicated  could  be  obtained  by 
purchase  at  a  fair  money  value,  at  a  total  cost  of  less  than 


RELATION  OF  PUBLIC  WAYS  TO  ORNAMENTATION    117 

one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  the  average  area  being  not 
over  five  acres.  A  probable  total  length  of  the  roads  in 
Massachusetts  which  are  to  be  taken  over  by  the  common- 
wealth is  about  two  thousand  miles.  Thus  the  system 
above  proposed,  if  completely  applied,  would  give  park 
bits  at  average  intervals  of  about  two  miles. 

Some  years  ago  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts  consti- 
tuted by  enactment  a  Board  of  Trustees  of  Public  Reser- 
vations. The  object  of  this  organization  is  to  afford. a 
safe  corporate  body  empowered  to  hold  bits  of  land  which 
may  from  time  to  time  be  dedicated  to  public  use.  This 
board  now  possesses  a  number  of  such  reservations.  It 
gives  promise  of  affording  an  excellent  means  whereby 
lands  may  be  held  safe  from  the  temptation  which  would 
beset  municipalities  to  part  with  such  holdings  at  the  so- 
licitation of  persons  of  much  local  influence.  The  transfer 
of  roadside  park  places  to  similar  commissions  in  other 
States  is  to  be  commended  as  a  measure  of  safety  against 
encroachments  such  as  have  served  to  destroy  many  of 
the  original  commons  in  Massachusetts  and  other  States, 
and  which  in  Great  Britain  have  lost  to  the  people  more 
than  three  fourths  of  the  lands  which  were  pubhc  prop- 
erty three  centuries  ago. 

In  many  of  our  rural  communities,  under  diverse  names, 
there  exist  viUage  betterment  associations  which  might 
weU  cooperate  with  those  who  are  engaged  in  constructing 
highways  in  the  task  of  adding  to  their  beauty  and  to  their 
value  as  public  places. 

WATER-SUPPLY   ON   ROADS 

An  important  adjunct  to  any  weU-constructed  road  is 
the  system  of  watering-places  for  the  refreshment  of  man 
and  beast.     Here  and  there  in  New  England  and  other 


118  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

hilly  parts  of  the  eastern  United  States  the  people  have 
availed  themselves  of  the  chance  to  provide  such  a  water- 
supply  from  high-lying  springs.  In  other  portions  of  the 
country  where  streams  cross  the  road  an  arrangement  is 
made  by  which  the  horses  may  be  turned  from  the  main 
way  into  the  water.  In  some  of  our  States  an  annual  al- 
lowance is  made  in  the  way  of  rebate  of  taxation  to  those 
who  may  provide  suitable  watering-troughs  and  keep  them 
in  repair.  In  general,  however,  this  provision  for  man 
and  beast  is  neglected.  The  writer  has  passed  over  many 
strips  of  ten  miles  of  highway  on  which  it  was  impossible 
to  obtain  water  for  horses  without  begging  it  from  the 
farms.  There  should,  indeed,  be  well-enforced  laws  requir- 
ing that  no  main  way  should  be  without  arrangements  for 
watering  animals  at  intervals  of  not  more  than  four  miles. 

Where  the  character  of  the  country  is  such  that  water 
can  be  brought  in  pipes  to  the  road  from  points  not  more 
than  five  or  six  hundred  feet  away,  this  supply  by  gravi- 
tation is  in  practically  all  cases  the  cheapest  and  best  that 
can  be  obtained.  Pumps  are  likely  to  get  out  of  order; 
they  demand  constant  attention,  as  do  also  the  weUs  from 
which  they  draw  their  supply.  Where  weUs  have  to  be 
resorted  to,  as  is  the  case  in  most  plain  lands,  the  use  of 
driven  pipes  with  small  windmills  is  to  be  commended. 
If  the  well  has  to  be  sunk  to  the  depth  of  thirty  feet  or 
more,  the  pipe  method  where  applicable  is  almost  always 
the  best.  ,  A  small  windmill,  such  as  can  be  provided  with 
a  sufficient  tower  for  less  than  one  hundred  dollars,  can, 
with  a  little  attention,  be  made  to  serve  the  needs. 

In  most  cases  the  watering-troughs  of  this  country  are 
too  large  for  the  flow  of  water  which  passes  through  them. 
The  result  is  that  the  saliva  of  animals  remains  in  the 
basin  as  a  source   of  contamination  and  disease.     The 


RELATION  OF  PUBLIC  WAYS  TO  ORNAMENTATION    119 

most  satisfactory  troughs  are  those  made  of  single  blocks 
of  stone,  with  a  sufficient  cavity  with  abruptly  sloping 
sides,  so  that  water  freezing  in  the  vessel  will  not  disrupt 
the  rock.  In  the  glaciated  district  in  this  country  boulders 
suitable  for  such  use  can  readily  be  found,  and  the  cost  of 
a  stone-cutter's  labor  in  excavating  a  basin  to  hold  six  or 
eight  gallons  of  water  is  slight.  Where  the  water  is  to  be 
brought  in  pipes  from  a  considerable  distance,  care  should 
be  taken  to  have  a  tap  so  placed  in  relation  to  the  supply 
that  the  pipe  will  not  freeze.  The  writer's  experience  in- 
dicates that  ordinary  iron  pipe  used  to  lead  w^ater  from  a 
spring  is  likely  to  rust  in  a  very  rapid  way.  The  process 
called  galvanizing,  effected  by  dipping  the  pipe  in  a  me- 
tallic allo}^  prolongs  the  life  of  the  metal  by  some  years. 
A  yet  better  result  is  obtained  by  the  use  of  anj  of  the 
several  enamels  which  are  made  to  serve  as  protective 
coatings.  On  the  whole,  for  a  stream  which  is  to  flow  con- 
tinually to  the  trough  ordinary  wooden  pipe  appears  to 
be  best. 

The  method  of  providing  watering-places  by  diversions 
of  the  road  on  the  side  of  bridges  is  not  to  be  commended 
unless  pains  are  taken  to  pave  the  ford  with  well-matched 
blocks  of  stone.  Such  watering-places  are  not  serviceable 
to  heavily  laden  vehicles,  and  are,  moreover,  frequent 
soui'ces  of  accident. 

BRIDGES 

There  are  few  roads  of  any  considerable  length  which 
do  not  cross  streams  of  such  volume  that  they  have  to  be 
bridged.  It  is  usual  in  this  country  to  make  these  bridges 
of  either  wood  or  iron.  Either  of  these  methods  of  con- 
struction entails  a  large  cost  in  repairs.    The  best  resom'ce. 


120  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

where  the  community  can  afford  the  additional  first  cost, 
is  to  make  the  bridges  of  stone  arches.  By  so  doing, 
though  the  first  expense  is  the  greater,  the  structure  may 
be  a  source  of  no  expense  even  after  centuries  of  use. 
There  are  many  Roman  arches  in  southern  Europe  which 
have  withstood  the  tax  of  time,  and  even  the  efforts  of 
military  engineers  to  destroy  them  with  gunpowder,  the 
strong  masonry,  owing  to  the  excellent  mortar,  shooting 
out  the  charge  as  from  a  gun.  If  any  reckoning  is  made 
as  to  the  landscape  effect,  the  value  of  a  stone  arched 
bridge  must  be  accounted  as  vastly  greater  than  that  of 
any  other  kind.  There  are,  indeed,  no  other  architectural 
features  attainable  in  our  American  landscapes  so  well 
calculated  to  enhance  their  beauty  as  the  sight  of  well- 
shaped  masonry  arches  over  the  streams.-  Following  any 
well-chosen  model,  a  country  builder  can  be  sure  of  a 
success  which,  however  simple,  will  be  of  a  monumental 
character. 

Where  the  conditions  do  not  permit  the  use  of  stone 
arches,  a  less  pleasing  but  very  satisfactory  bridge,  one 
that  is  likely  to  endure  for  a  long  period,  can  often  be 
made  by  using  stone  slabs  stretched  between  the  abut- 
ments and  covered  with  a  surfacing  of  macadam.  It  is, 
however,  not  often  possible  to  make  spans  of  more  than 
eight  or  ten  feet  with  this  system.  It  is  therefore  applica- 
ble to  relatively  small  streams.  Where  the  bridging  has 
to  be  done  with  iron  or  timber  it  is  generally  possible,  if 
the  span  does  not  exceed  thirty  feet,  to  accomplish  the 
end  by  means  of  gii-ders  which  are  placed  below  the  floor. 
This  is  particularly  the  case  with  iron  bridges.  If  this 
method  is  used  in  structures  of  wood,  the  girder  timbers, 
owing  to  their  position,  are  more  likely  to  decay.  Where 
the  bridges  are  to  have  a  considerable  length  the  state  of 


RELATION  OF  PUBLIC  WAYS  TO  ORNAMENTATION    121 

the  art  wliich  guides  such  constructions  dictates  that  they 
are  to  be  built  of  steel  in  a  manner  which  makes  them 
necessarily  very  unsightly.  They  cannot  be  fitly  deco- 
rated any  more  than  a  skeleton.  They  have  to  be  ac- 
cepted, if  needs  be,  as  detestable  inflictions  which  can  only 
be  avoided  by  the  use  of  the  costlier  stone  arches. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

METHODS  OF   CONSTRUCTING  ROADS 

Conditions  of  roads.  Preliminary  study  of  locations.  Grades  of 
roads.  Surveys  and  plans.  Width  of  location.  Drainage.  The 
hardened  way — broken  stone.  The  hardened  way — gravel. 
Cost  of  maintenance.  Macadam  roads.  Methods  of  preparing 
stone.  Preparation  of  the  road-bed.  The  process  of  compacting. 
Wear  and  repairs.  Shape  of  wheels.  Annual  wearing  of  roads. 
Methods  of  repairing 

IN  this  and  the  following  chapter  some  account  will  be 
given  as  to  the  course  which  needs  to  be  followed  in 
building  country  roads  on  various  scales  of  cost,  and  with 
the  several  kinds  of  material  which  are  accessible  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  this  country. 

It  should,  in  the  first  place,  be  noted  that  the  task  of 
planning  and  building  any  road  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
utmost  advantage  may  be  had  from  the  conditions  of  the 
ground  and  from  the  material  to  be  used  is  one  of  much 
difficulty,  and  demands  the  services  of  a  well-educated 
engineer  who  has  devoted  much  time  to  highway  work. 
With  all  other  forms  of  construction  it  is  possible  for  a 
man  generally  well  informed  in  building  to  apply,  in  the 
manner  of  a  copyist,  the  methods  which  have  proved  suc- 
cessful in  other  places.  It  is  the  peculiarity  of  a  road,  as 
compared  with  other  architectural  work,  that  it  depends 
for  its  utility  in  greater  measure  on  the  topography  and 

122 


METHODS  OF  CONSTRUCTING  ROADS  123 

other  earth  conditions  than  any  other  constructive  under- 
taking. Therefore  the  best  advice  that  can  be  given  to 
those  who  are  about  to  engage  in  road-building  is  that 
they  seek  at  once  the  assistance  of  the  most  successful 
highway  engineer  who  can  be  obtained.  Unfortunately, 
in  the  present  condition  of  this  country,  there  are  few  men 
in  this  profession  whose  advice  may  be  safely  relied  on. 
It  would  probably  be  an  overestimate  to  reckon  that  there 
are  fifty  men  in  this  country  who  are  competent  to  build 
good  roads,  using  in  their  work  certain  limited  classes  of 
materials  with  which  they  have  become  acquainted.  Of 
those  of  the  larger  training,  who  are  able  to  go  into  a  new 
country  and  there  to  plan  ways  which  will  be  well  accom- 
modated to  the  surface,  which  will  make  the  most  use  of 
the  resources  which  are  to  be  had  from  the  wayside,  there 
are  probably  not  more  than  a  score.  On  this  account  it 
seems  desirable  to  make  the  statements  in  the  following 
chapters  in  such  a  form  that  an  intelligent  road-master 
may  at  least  escape  the  principal  dangers  which  are  apt  to 
beset  him  in  his  work ;  that  he  may  see  how  far  he  should 
extend  his  knowledge  by  experiment  or  otherwise  before 
setting  about  his  task. 

CONDITIONS   OF    ROADS 

In  considering  the  plan  for  a  new  road  or  the  betterment 
of  a  way  now  existing,  the  inquirer  will  do  well  at  the  out- 
set to  make  up  his  mind  as  to  the  needs  which  the  road  has 
to  serve.  To  do  this  effectively  in  a  country  of  rapidly 
developing  possibilities,  such  as  our  own,  demands  a  con- 
siderable forelooking.  The  question  is  not  as  to  the  exist- 
ing traffic  over  the  way,  but  as  to  the  use  which  is  to  be 
made  of  it  for  some  generations  to  come.     To  make  a 

8 


124  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

costly  road  only  to  find  that  the  betterment  of  conditions 
which  the  construction  brings  about  leads  to  the  use  of 
very  much  heavier  laden  wagons,  which  in  turn  require  a 
change  not  only  of  foundations  and  superstructure,  but  of 
grades  and  perhaps  of  location,  is  to  fail  in  that  duty  by 
the  hereafter  which  is  one  of  the  highest  obligations  of  the 
engineer.  Thus  in  laying  out  a  road  which  is  meant  to 
serve  a  purely  agricultural  community,  where  the  volume 
of  traffic  is  small  and  the  weight  on  four  wheels  never 
exceeds  two  tons,  the  grades  and  bridges  may  well  be 
contrived  in  a  relatively  cheap  way.  If,  however,  the 
effect  of  the  improvement  is  to  develop  the  use  of  water- 
power  and  manufacturing,  where  the  commercial  condi- 
tions may  soon  demand  the  use  of  wagons  carrying  loads 
of  five  tons  or  more,  the  construction  will  shortly  be  found 
inadequate. 

PRELIMINARY  STUDY  OF  LOCATIONS 

If  the  road  w^hich  is  to  be  built  is  to  be  newly  laid  out, 
the  line  should  first  be  carefully  studied,  if  possible  on  a 
good  map,  and  in  any  case  by  careful  surveys  which  will 
give  the  results  to  be  obtained  on  different  lines.  Some 
engineers  are  afflicted  with  the  notion  that  they  can  plan 
a  road  by  simple  inspection.  Except  it  be  upon  a  nearl}^ 
plane  surface,  experience  shows  that  this  notion  is  a  harm- 
ful delusion.  A  study  of  the  underlying  materials  should 
next  be  made  by  pits  or,  better,  by  cross-sections  to  show 
the  character  of  the  foundations  at  all  doubtful  points. 
This  test  is  particularly  necessary  with  reference  to  the 
wetness  of  the  under  earth.  Before  deciding  on  the  loca- 
tion it  should  be  determined  whence  the  stone  for  con- 
struction  and  repairs  is   to   be   obtained.     It  is   often 


METHODS  OF  CONSTRUCTING  EOADS  125 

justifiable  to  make  a  considerable  detour  in  order  to  bring 
tbe  way  near  these  sources  of  supply.  In  tliis,  as  in  other 
matters  connected  with  the  way,  its  future  has  to  be  kept 
clearly  in  mind. 

The  experience  of  the  Massachusetts  commission  shows 
it  is  most  important  carefully  to  study  as  to  which  of  two 
or  more  existing  roads  should  be  taken  as  the  line  which 
it  would  be  most  profitable  to  improve  in  view  of  the 
existing  and  future  conditions  of  the  area  in  which  the 
improvement  is  to  be  made.  Although  the  plan  may  be 
to  improve  a  way  already  established,  a  close  study  of  the 
line  will  generally  show  that  considerable  advantages  are 
to  be  gained  by  somewhat  varying  the  position  of  the  way 
in  order  to  avoid  steep  grades  or  bad  foundations.  In  the 
first  laying  out  of  the  roads  in  a  new  country  needs  of 
economy,  or  the  desire  to  bring  the  way  near  to  the  house 
of  some  influential  person,  have  in  almost  aU  cases  led  to 
establishments  which  are  now  more  or  less  irrational  and 
need  to  be  remedied. 

GRADES   OF   ROADS 

The  first  and  most  general  question  which  the  road  en- 
gineer has  to  meet  in  the  greater  part  of  this  country  con- 
cerns the  grades  of  the  way  for  which  he  is  responsible. 
It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  loss  of  energy  due  to  grades 
increases  rapidly  with  their  steepness.  The  following  table 
gives  a  generally  accepted  statement  concerning  this  loss. 
It  should  be  said,  however,  that  the  capacity  of  animals  to 
apply  their  strength  diminishes  also  with  the  steepness  of 
the  grade,  so  that  the  loss  of  efficiency  due  to  the  declivity 
is  more  considerable  than  is  approximately  indicated  in 
the  figures  in  the  following  table : 


126  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 


TABLE   OF   GRADE   STATISTICS  i    (APPROXIMATE) 


Rate  of  grade  in 

Tendency  down 

Traction  power  in 
pounds  required 

Equivalent  length 
of  level  road  for 

Maximum  load  in 
pounds  which  a 

feet  per  100  feet 

the  slope  in  pounds 

to  haul  one  ton  up 

same  expenditure 

horse  can  haul  up 

in  length. 

per  ton. 

the  slope. 

of  power  in  miles. 

the  given  slope. 

0.00 

0.00 

45.00 

1.000 

6,270 

0.25 

5.60 

50.60 

1.121 

5,376 

0.50 

11.20 

56.20 

1.242 

4,973 

0.75 

16.80 

61.80 

1.373 

4,490 

1.00 

22.46 

67.40 

1.500 

4,145 

1.25 

28.00 

73.00 

1.622 

3,830 

1.50 

33.60 

78.60 

1.746 

3,584 

1.75 

39.20 

84.26 

1.871 

3,290 

2.00 

45.00 

90.00 

2.000 

3,114 

3.00 

67.20 

112.20 

2.484 

2,486 

4.00 

89.20 

134.20 

2.982 

2,083 

5.00 

112.00 

157.00 

3.444 

1,800 

6.00 

134.40 

179.40 

3.986 

1,568 

7.00 

156.80 

201.80 

4.844 

1,367 

8.00 

179.20 

224.20 

4.982 

1,235 

9.00 

201.60 

246.60 

5.480 

1,125 

10.00 

224.00 

269.00 

5.977 

1,036 

Where  the  services  of  a  skilled  road  engineer  are  not  to 
be  had  a  person  f aiiiy  well  trained  in  surveying  may  safely 
undertake  the  work,  provided  he  will  set  about  his  task  in 
a  careful  manner.  To  do  this  he  should  first  betake  himself 
to  some  place  where  good  roads  are  in  process  of  construc- 
tion, preferably  those  which  are  made  of  broken  stone.  A 
week  of  observation  of  such  work  or,  better,  a  share  in  it  as 
an  inspector,  repeating  the  criticisms  and  keeping  the  notes 
of  the  resident  engineer,  who  may  have  immediate  charge 
of  the  construction,  will  do  much  to  insure  a  knowledge 
as  to  the  methods  and  conditions  of  the  process.  If  such 
a  field-study  were  extended  over  a  term  of  six  weeks,  and 
so  arranged  as  to  secure  a  knowledge  of  highways  adapted 
to  varied  conditions,  such  as  are  now  being  undertaken 

1  Condensed  from  a  treatise  on  "Highway  Construction,"  by 
Arthur  T.  Byrne,  C.E.  (John  Wylie  &  Sons,  New  York,  1892),  p.  270. 


METHODS  OF  CONSTEUCTING  ROADS  127 

by  the  commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  the  observer,  if 
already  somewhat  familiar  with  road  problems,  would  be 
able  to  make  himself  fairly  ready  for  his  future  tasks. 
Thereafter,  with  the  assistance  which  will  be  given  him 
by  the  better  manuals  on  highway  engineering,  he  may 
expect,  with  a  share  of  blundering,  to  be  able  to  do  toler- 
ably good  work. 

SURVEYS  AND   PLANS 

It  cannot  be  too  strongly  insisted  on  that  before  any 
work  of  road-building  is  actually  begun,  whether  it  relate 
to  reconstructing  an  old  way  or  to  making  one  that  is 
quite  new,  a  careful  survey  should  be  made  and  the  lines 
of  the  work  well  staked  out.  The  records  of  the  survey 
should  include  a  ground-plan  of  the  road,  and  if  it  be  an 
old  construction  one  showing  the  position  of  the  existing 
traveled  portion  of  it,  the  sites  of  buildings,  fences,  walls, 
culverts,  etc.,  as  well  as  the  limits  of  the  right  of  way. 
The  proposed  new  lines  to  be  adopted  for  the  betterment 
of  the  location  should  also  be  indicated,  so  that  lands  to 
be  taken  or  which  are  to  be  abandoned  may  be  seen.  A 
profile  of  the  way,  drawn  along  its  center,  should  next  be 
prepared,  which  will  show  in  an  accurate  manner  the  ver- 
tical positions  of  every  part  of  the  road,  and  on  this  should 
be  indicated  the  proposed  cuts  and  fills.  Along  with  the 
profile  there  should  be  prepared  cross-sections  taken  at 
every  station,  one  hundred  feet  apart,  each  showing  the 
original  state  and  the  proposed  changes  of  the  construc- 
tion. Where,  at  points  between  these  normally  placed 
stations,  the  road  exhibits  important  local  peculiarities  of 
form  there  should  be  special  cross-sections  prepared. 

With  these  results  of  accurate  surveys  in  hand,  those 


128  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

who  are  to  criticize  the  project,  a  work  which  should  be 
done  on  the  ground,  should  give  particular  attention  to 
the  following  described  points.  The  first  consideration 
should  be  to  the  grades  of  the  roadway.  Within  the  limits 
of  the  prescribed  cost,  these  should,  if  possible,  be  brought 
to  not  over  five  per  cent.,  i.e.,  three  feet  rise  in  one  hun- 
dred feet  of  length.  In  places  even  with  main  ways 
the  slopes  may,  to  avoid  difficult  cuts,  especially  rock  ex- 
cavations, where  the  material  is  not  of  a  nature  to  be 
serviceable,  as  broken  stone,  be  left  at  the  rate  of  six  per 
cent. ;  but  it  should  be  understood  that  any  greater  steep- 
ness is  likely  to  be  prohibitory  on  the  use  of  the  road  by 
heavily  laden  wagons,  and  is  certain  to  incur  much  ex- 
pense in  maintenance,  and  this  for  the  reason  that  the 
destructive  effects  of  the  weather  and  of  the  traffic  increase 
in  a  high  ratio  with  the  steepening  of  the  slope.  A  study 
of  this  problem  of  grades  on  the  ground  will  often  show 
that  a  slight  change  in  the  position  of  the  route  will  lead 
to  a  great  amendment  of  the  objectionable  slope. 

Along  with  the  question  as  to  the  declivities  of  the  roads 
goes  that  of  the  equalization  of  the  cuts  and  fills ;  this  in 
general  can  be  trusted  to  any  experienced  engineer,  but 
almost  every  project  can  be  bettered  by  the  criticism  of 
SbHj  discreet  person  who  will  carefully  go  over  the  problem 
in  the  field.  In  this  revision  care  should  be  taken  to  see 
that  the  changes  of  grade,  especially  near  houses,  do  not 
affect  the  access  to  them  or  the  drainage  in  an  injurious 
way.  Alterations  of  even  a  few  inches  in  grade  are  likely 
to  afford  a  basis  for  troublesome  and  costly  litigation. 
It  is  a  good  general  rule  to  have  the  results  of  all  such 
modifications  discussed  with  the  owners  of  the  adjacent 
property,  and  their  claims  released,  before  the  construction 
of  the  way  is  begun. 


METHODS  OF  CONSTRUCTING  ROADS  129 

In  most  instances  it  will  be  found  desirable  to  have  the 
surveys  made  and  the  plans  prepared  some  months  in 
advance  of  the  time  when  the  construction  of  the  road  is 
to  be  begun.  This  will  give  time  for  the  careful  and  re- 
peated criticism  of  the  project  which  true  economy  de- 
mands. If,  as  is  always  best,  a  skilled  highway  engineer 
is  to  be  employed,  the  surveys  should  be  made  under  his 
direction. 

In  many  cases  it  is  advisable  to  have  the  road  graded 
and  used  in  the  unpaved  state  for  one  or  even  two  years 
before  the  surface  is  hardened.  By  thus  preparing  the 
foundations  a  considerable  time  before  the  superstructure 
is  built  the  road  has  a  chance  to  become  firm  from  the 
tread  of  the  wheels,  an  effect  which  is  likely  to  result  in  a 
considerable  saving  of  broken  stone  if  the  way  is  after- 
ward macadamized.  This  postponement  of  the  work  of 
hardening  the  road-bed  affords  also  an  opportunity  to 
make  a  more  careful  study  of  the  grades  with  experience 
for  a  guide. 

In  European  countries,  where  the  roads  are  controlled  by 
central  authorities,  there  are  rules  for  grades  which  en- 
gineers have  to  follow.  A  certain  limited  allowance  is 
made  on  the  main  ways.  This  is  increased  as  the  roads 
f aU  into  the  lower  classes  of  such  constructions.  In  many 
parts  of  Europe  ascents  of  several  thousand  feet  are  made 
by  roads  which  have  no  more  rise  than  three  feet  in  each 
hundred  of  length,  the  gain  being  made  by  zigzags  or 
windings  of  the  way.  Although  there  are  certain  advan- 
tages in  this  system,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  gain  is 
sufficient  to  make  it  worth  while  for  the  engineers  of  this 
country  to  adopt  any  fixed  rates  of  slope  for  roads.  Those 
who  have  used  the  zigzag  ways  of  the  mountainous  parts 
of  Europe  have  had  occasion  to  remark  that  the  expense 


130  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

seems  in  many  cases  disproportionate  to  the  results  ob- 
tained. There  are  important  roads  in  Massachusetts  which 
cannot  without  an  impossible  cost  be  brought  to  less  max- 
imum grades  than  seven  feet  in  the  hundred. 

In  considering  the  grades  to  be  adopted  reckoning  has  to 
be  made  on  the  direction  of  the  traffic.  In  most  agricultu- 
ral districts  the  greater  part  of  the  weight  which  is  carried 
goes  outward  to  market,  the  return  loads  being  very  light. 
In  such  conditions  the  greater  part  of  the  costs  should 
be  applied  to  those  slopes  which  the  teams  have  to  en- 
counter with  heavy  loads.  It  should  furthermore  be  noted 
that  the  maximum  grade  on  a  road,  if  the  declivity  be 
of  considerable  length,  determines  the  transportation  effi- 
ciency of  the  teams.  It  is  thus  often  desirable  to  expend 
a  good  deal  of  money  in  reducing  a  long  slope  to  the  least 
possible  grade,  even  where  short  pitches  have  to  be  tem- 
porarily neglected. 

WIDTH   OF  LOCATION 

The  next  question  is  as  to  the  width  of  the  location. 
Where  it  is  designed  to  provide  a  country  road  with  the 
simple  adornment  of  plantations  or  of  a  forest  strip,  it  is 
in  aU.  cases  desirable  to  obtain  a  wide  right  of  way.  If, 
however,  the  margins  beyond  the  gutters  are  not  to  be 
planted  with  trees  or  otherwise  cared  for,  the  unused  por- 
tions of  the  locations  are  apt  to  become  mere  nests  of 
weeds.  Furthermore,  as  before  remarked,  it  is  well  to 
consider  the  probabilities  of  the  road  being  paralleled  or 
in  part  occupied  by  an  electrical  tramway.  If  this  is  likely 
the  location  should  be  made  of  sufficient  width  for  that 
need.  The  proper  width  under  these  conditions  has  been 
discussed  in  the  preceding  chapter.     In  many  parts  of  this 


METHODS  OF  CONSTRUCTINa  ROADS  131 

country,  particularly  in  the  Western  States,  tlie  wide, 
neglected  roadsides  not  only  entail  considerable  loss  of 
arable  land,  but  are  a  source  at  once  of  disfigurement  and 
of  damage  by  affording  a  nursery  for  the  noxious  weeds. 
By  the  readjustment  of  roads,  as  has  been  shown  in  the 
experience  of  the  Massachusetts  Highway  Commission,  it 
is  often  possible  to  avoid  serious  difSculties  with  bridges. 
It  frequently  occurs  that  some  of  these  costly  parts  of  the 
road  can  be  dispensed  with  altogether ;  in  other  instances 
they  may  be  placed  in  positions  where  they  are  safer  from 
freshets.  Where  new  bridges  have  to  be  built  a  careful 
study  of  the  watershed  above  them  and  of  the  upper  limit 
of  rainfall  needs  to  be  made.  Not  the  least  of  the  advan- 
tages of  oui-  system  of  observations  in  the  weather  service 
is  that  it  permits  these  reckonings  to  be  made  with  suffi- 
cient accui-acy  for  nearly  all  parts  of  this  country. 

DRAINAGE 

After  the  location  of  the  new  or  old  road  has  been  de- 
termined on,  the  next  question  which  arises  is  as  to  the 
drainage  of  the  way.  Whatever  material  is  adopted  for 
the  hardening  process,  the  drainage  problem  remains  sub- 
stantially the  same.  In  general  it  may  be  said  that  the 
drainage  of  a  road  should  be  planned  so  that  no  water 
should,  under  any  conditions,  flow  from  beyond  the  road 
upon  its  surface,  and  that  the  water  which  falls  within  the 
improved  way  should  be  discharged  into  the  gutters,  and 
from  those  gutters  to  freer  channels,  as  speedily  as  possi- 
ble, and,  furthermore,  that  the  subjacent  earth  should  be 
effectively  kept  dry  to  a  depth  varying  according  to  the 
penetration  of  frost,  but  in  general  for  at  least  three  feet 
below  the  crown  of  the  road.     It  cannot  be  too  often  said 


132  AMEEICAN  HIGHWAYS 

that  the  surface  of  a  road  must  be  iu  effect  a  roof ;  that 
the  section  below  it  should  be  kept  by  that  covering  in  a 
perfectly  dry  state,  and  that  it  should  be  protected  from 
the  penetration  of  water  sidewise  beneath  the  covering. 
It  is  in  this  portion  of  the  road  engineer's  work  that  he 
finds  the  greatest  need  of  skill  and  experience. 

There  are  two  ways  in  which  the  dryness  of  a  naturally 
wet  road-bed  may  be  brought  about.  One  is  by  drains 
upon  the  side,  and  the  other  by  a  drain  in  the  center.  It 
is  rarely  possible  to  make  the  side  drains  in  the  open  or 
gutter  form  deep  enough  to  insure  an  effective  withdrawal 
of  the  water  from  the  central  portions  of  the  way.  It  is 
generally  advisable  to  place  a  pipe  drain  beneath  the 
gutters  in  the  position  shown  in  the  diagram.  Ordinarily 
a  four-inch  earthen  pipe  is  sufficient  for  the  purpose.  This 
should  be  covered  to  or  near  to  the  surface  with  a  coating 
of  very  coarse  gravel  or,  better,  pebbles,  or,  if  such  material 
is  not  to  be  had,  with  broken  stone  such  as  is  used  in 
covering  the  road.  The  pipe  should,  in  general,  be  at  a 
depth  of  not  less  than  three  and  a  half  feet  below  the  crown 
of  the  road.     (See  Fig.  5.) 


Fig  5.— Macadam  road  on  side-hill  showing  drains. 

Bottom  layer  consists  of  large-toroken  stone,  3  to  4  in.  in  diameter,  4  in. 

deep  in  center. 

Top  layer  consists  of  broken  stone,  6  in.  deep  in  center. 

If  the  road  is  to  traverse  a  very  wet  place  a  better, 
though  in  general  more  costly,  drainage  may  be  made  by 
having  a  V-shaped  cavity,  as  is  shown  in  Fig.  6,  below  the 
whole  road,  placing  the  pipe  or  culvert  drain,  generally 


METHODS  OF  CONSTRUCTINa  EOADS 


133 


over  six  inclies  in  diameter,  in  a  central  position,  as  is  in- 
dicated in  the  figure.  Above  tMs  should  be  placed  gravel 
or  small-broken  stone  as  before,  and  the  whole  of  the  space 


SPR/NGY 


Fig.  6.— Type  of  road  on  a  very  wet  foundation. 


A=l  in  oil  of  stone  dnst  %  in.  in  diameter. 
B=6  inclies  of  broken  stone  from  %  in.  upward. 
C=10  inches  of  field  stone. 
D= Stones  of  drain  6  to  8  in.  tliick. 
Total  depth  from  surface  3  feet. 
Scale  1  in.  =3  feet. 


above,  np  to  the  level  of  the  hardened  way,  should  be 
filled  in  with  stone.  This  stone  may  be  boulders  up  to  six 
inches  or  more  in  diameter,  to  near  the  top  of  the  filling. 
It  goes  without  saying  that  the  drain  at  the  bottom  of  the 
structure  needs  to  communicate  freely  with  a  permanently 
open  exit.  The  slope  of  all  such  drains  as  here  described 
should  be,  if  conveniently  possible,  at  least  three  inches 
to  the  hundred  feet.  To  accomplish  this  result  is  often  a 
considerable  task  to  the  engineer,  as  the  level  of  the  road 
has  to  be  adjusted  in  relation  to  the  project. 

The  open  side  drains  or  gutters  should  have  a  depth  and 
width  proportionate  to  the  amount  of  water  which  they 
have  to  carry.  If  the  amount  of  this  which  comes  from 
the  neighboring  country  on  either  side  of  the  road  be  not 
unusually  great,  the  depression  need,  in  most  cases,  be  no 
more  than  thirty  inches  wide,  with  a  depth  of  no  more  than 
three  inches.  It  is  often  the  best  plan  to  leave  the  gutters 
for  a  few  months  after  the  road  is  constructed,  so  that  the 


134 


AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 


effect  of  the  water  upon  their  bottoms  and  sides  may  be 
estimated  from  experience.  "Where  the  conditions  are  such 
as  to  permit  of  a  grass  bottom  the  channel  may  be  paved 
with  sod,  or  often  merely  "sowed  down."     Where  the 


-Cross-section  of  Macadam  roadway  laid  on  compact  earth, 
and  made  solid  and  permanent  by  heavy  rolling. 


Fig.  8.— Cross-section  showing  wasteful  use  of  Macadam  material. 


water  cuts  the  bottom  at  all  it  is  necessary  to  protect  the 
channel  with  some  form  of  pavement.  Where  suitable 
pebbles  abound,  those  which  can  be  selected  having  a 
diameter  of  from  four  to  eight  inches,  they  may  advan- 
tageously be  used  as  a  pavement,  which  should  be  laid  by 
a  person  skilled  in  the  art.  Trained  pavers  can  make  a 
good  job  with  poor  materials  where  dabsters  will  spoil  the 
work.     Where  pebbles  for  paving  are  not  obtainable  some 


ll^^ 


fr| 


METHODS  OF  CONSTRUCTING  ROADS  137 

form  of  concrete  is  best  suited  to  the  needs.  Experience 
with  wooden  troughs  has  been  generally  unsatisfactory 
for  the  reason  that  the  water  is  apt  to  find  its  way  beneath 
the  plank,  thus  leading  to  damaging  washouts.  The  ques- 
tion of  the  larger  bridges  of  a  road  has  already  been  dis- 
cussed in  a  previous  chapter.  The  smaller  waterways, 
which  are  to  be  provided  for  by  means  of  culverts,  need 
attention.  Great  care  should  be  taken  to  insure  sufficient 
room  for  easy  passage  of  the  floods,  so  that  under  no  cir- 
cumstances shall  the  water  be  impounded  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  it  may  flow  over  the  road.  The  effect  of  a  stream 
of  this  sort  on  a  Macadam  way  is  quickly  to  remove  the 
cementing  material  and  to  convert  the  mass  into  a  rubble, 
which  is  apt  to  wash  away,  thus  leading  to  costly  repairs. 
The  only  method  to  secure  this  adjustment  is  a  close 
reckoning  as  to  the  drainage  area  from  which  the  water 
comes,  together  with  an  account  of  the  maximum  precipi- 
tation. 

THE   HARDENED   WAY— BROKEN   STONE 

The  alinement  of  grades  and  drainage  of  the  road  hav- 
ing been  provided  for,  the  next  stage  is  to  consider  the 
form  and  construction  of  the  hardened  way.  This  portion 
of  the  road  needs,  in  all  cases  where  the  way  is  newly 
made,  to  be  excavated  to  a  depth  which  will  insure  the 
removal  of  that  part  of  the  soil  which  is  much  occupied  by 
roots  and  is  of  a  distinctly  open  texture.  If,  as  is  usually 
the  case,  there  is  a  consolidated  undersoil  or  hard-pan  a 
few  inches  below  the  surface,  this  should,  if  possible,  not 
be  broken  up,  for  the  reason  that  it  affords  a  better  foun- 
dation than  can  be  obtained  at  a  greater  depth.  Where 
the  construction  is  to  occupy  the  site  of  an  established  way 
it  is  very  desirable  not  to  break  up  the  firm  bed  which  has 


138  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

been  already  formed  by  the  pressure  of  the  wheels.  If 
possible,  the  surface  of  such  a  way  should  be  shaped  so 
as  to  be  the  foundation  for  the  layers  of  material  which 
are  to  serve  for  hardening.  Where  convenient  it  is  well 
to  shape  a  "  dirt  road  "  which  is  to  be  macadamized  some 
time  before  the  broken  stone  is  placed  upon  it,  so  that  it 
may  become  uniformly  compacted  by  the  traffic. 

In  practically  all  instances  the  improvement  of  a  road 
such  as  is  here  considered  demands  hardening  by  means 
of  artificially  broken  stone,  or  that  which  is  brought  to  this 
state  by  natural  processes,  as  in  the  case  of  gravel.  It  is 
therefore  necessary  to  consider  the  preparation  of  the  bed 
for  the  appHcation  of  such  materials.  The  first  step  in  this 
process  consists  in  shaping  the  foundation  so  that  it  may 


Fig  9.— Chestnut  Street,  Chelsea. 

Showing  method  of  macadamizing  over  old  gravel  road,  without  breaking  it 
up.    Broken  stone,  6  in.  deep  in  center  to  4  in.  on  the  sides. 

as  nearly  as  possible  conform  to  the  outline  of  the  surface 
of  the  way  when  it  is  completed.  With  this  intention  the 
bed  should  slope  from  the  center  laterally  each  way,  with 
a  grade  of  about  a  half -inch  to  the  foot.  This  arrange- 
ment is  not  to  be  regarded  as  imperative.  It  is,  however, 
advantageous,  particularly  where  the  road  is  to  be  covered 
with  broken  stone.  Wherever  the  nature  of  the  founda- 
tion permits  it  is  best  to  roll  the  bed  with  a  steam-roller, 
in  order  to  bring  it  to  an  even,  compact  state,  such  as  can 
be  obtained  only  by  such  treatment ;  by  this  means  not 
only  is  the  base  of  the  road  made  the  firmer,  but  the 
amount  of  the  materials  to  be  used  in  hardening  is  more 
or  less  reduced  by  keeping  the  broken  stone  from  working 


METHODS  OF   CONSTRUCTING  ROADS  139 

into  the  bed,  and  the  under  earth  is  made  to  aid  in  up- 
holding the  way. 

THE  HARDENED  WAY— GRAVEL 

Where  gravel  is  used  as  the  hardening  material  it  should 
be  chosen  with  care  as  to  its  quality.  So  great  are  the 
differences  in  the  character  of  this  material,  and  so  indis- 
tinct the  indications  of  value,  that  it  is  hardly  possible  to 
give  any  general  directions  as  to  the  choice  of  sources  of 
supply.  In  addition  to  the  statements  already  made  in 
the  chapter  on  road-building  materials,  it  may  be  said  that 
good  gravel  rarely  contains  more  than  one  foui'th  part  of 
sand  or  clay,  that  it  never  shows  a  trace  of  slipping  after 
being  frozen,  and  that  it  rarely  has  more  than  one  half  of 
its  pebbles  composed  of  white  quartz.  Where  the  walls 
of  the  pit  are  so  far  consolidated  that  they  remain  steep 
after  exposure  for  a  winter,  the  material  may  be  assumed 
as  fit  even  without  any  other  treatment,  except  that  for 
removing  the  pebbles  which  are  more  than  about  an  inch 
in  diameter.  It  is  rarely  the  case  that  gravel  can  be  found 
so  free  from  pebbles  of  large  size  that  no  treatment  to 
remove  them  is  required.  Where  this  occurs  the  mass  is 
almost  certain  to  be  either  so  sandy  or  clayey  that  it  is 
unfit  for  use.  For  the  removal  of  the  larger  pebbles  either 
of  two  means  may  be  adopted.  The  material  may  be 
placed  at  once  upon  the  road,  the  over-large  fragments 
being  then  removed  by  means  of  rakes,  or  it  may  be  sifted 
by  ordinary  gratings  or,  better,  by  rotary  screen-drums 
driven  by  power.  It  is  much  better  to  have  the  screening 
done  before  the  gravel  is  placed  upon  the  road. 

The  coarser  pebbles  which  have  been  separated  from 
the  mass  of  the  gravel  may  advantageously  be  used  for 


140  AMEEICAN  HIGHWAYS 

various  purposes  in  road  construction ;  those  of  fit  size  for 
paving  gutters,  the  rest  either  in  covering  the  drain-pipes, 
or  as  a  bottom  layer  of  the  hardened  part  of  the  way.  If 
convenient  these  pebbles  may  be  used,  as  for  such  a  layer, 
say  six  inches  in  thickness ;  on  top  of  these  pebbles  the 
screened  gravel  should  be  placed  to  the  depth  of  not  less 
than  six  inches.  If  there  is  no  bottom  layer  of  pebbles 
the  total  thickness  of  gravel  should  be  from  ten  to  twelve 
inches.  It  is  the  custom  of  some  constructors  to  roll  the 
gravel  in  two  successively  placed  layers ;  it  is,  however, 
doubtful  if  this  method  serves  any  useful  purpose.  As 
will  be  noted  in  the  case  of  a  broken-stone  covering,  the 
rolling  serves  at  once  to  wedge  the  angular  bits  together, 
and  to  produce  by  the  abrasion  of  the  adjacent  bits  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  dust,  which  acts  as  a  cement  to  bind  the 
fragments  to  one  another.  Neither  of  these  effects  is  to 
any  great  extent  brought  about  hj  the  use  of  the  roller  on 
gravel.  The  adhesion  in  that  material  is  effected  in  most 
cases  by  the  iron  oxides,  lime,  or  powdered  stone,  with  a 
cementing  property  which  the  mass  may  contain.  The 
efficiency  of  these  agents  is  not  likely  to  be  increased  by 
rolling. 

Some  highway  engineers  are  accustomed  to  cover  the 
surface  of  a  gravel  road  with  a  layer  of  clay  or  loam. 
Sparingly  used,  such  a  covering,  say  to  the  depth  of  an 
inch,  may  give  to  the  road  a  certain  temporary  firmness 
which  it  would  not  otherwise  have ;  but  it  is  very  doubt- 
ful whether  any  permanent  benefit  is  ever  thus  obtained. 
The  effect  of  the  clay  is  naturally  to  prevent  or  diminish 
the  action  of  the  cementing  agents  which  the  gravel  con- 
tains. Where,  as  is  often  the  case,  a  true  cementing 
hard-pan  earth  can  be  obtained,  it  may,  if  used  as  a 
binder,  prove  serviceable  in  a  permanent  way ;  but  as  the 


METHODS  OF  CONSTRUCTINa  ROADS  141 

greater  part  of  such  clayey  substances  fail  to  bind  after 
being  subjected  to  frost,  theii'  use  is  not  to  be  commended. 

When  the  gravel  is  placed  on  the  road  the  surface  should 
be  crowned  toward  the  center  with  a  slope  of  about  one 
half  to  three  quarters  of  an  inch  to  the  foot.  As  on  other 
kinds  of  ways,  this  slope  needs  to  be  rather  steeper  on  in- 
clines than  on  level  ground,  and  this  for  the  reason  that 
the  object  of  the  shape  is  to  insure  the  speedy  discharge 
of  the  rainfall  from  the  way  into  the  side  gutters.  On 
declivities  the  speedy  flow  of  this  water  makes  it  most  im- 
portant that  it  should  be  turned  from  the  road.  To  attain 
this  end  on  an  imperfectly  hardened  surface,  such  as  is 
always  found  on  a  graveled  highway,  it  may  be  necessary 
to  face  the  eminent  disadvantages  of  a  steep  crown,  mak- 
ing the  slope  as  high  as  an  inch  to  the  foot. 

As  the  surface  of  a  graveled  road  is  at  best  a  rather  im- 
perfect thing,  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to  discuss  the  form 
of  the  crown  which  should  be  given  to  it.  In  general  it 
serves  sufficiently  well  to  continue  the  slopes  from  either 
side  to  near  the  middle  of  the  way,  without  any  effort  to 
strike  the  somewhat  elaborate  curve  which  it  may  be  well 
to  give  to  a  road  of  higher  grade  of  construction.  How- 
ever well  built  a  way  of  gravel  may  be,  it  is  sure,  after  a 
short  period  of  use,  to  become  rutted  by  the  wheels,  as 
well  as  channeled  by  the  paths  followed  by  the  horses. 
As  soon  as  this  state  is  brought  about  the  road  should  at 
once  be  repaired.  This  may  be  done  by  filling  the  depres- 
sions with  fresh  gravel,  a  process  which  is  expensive,  and 
is  likely,  especially  when  frequently  repeated,  to  deform 
the  road  by  increasing  the  steepness  of  the  pitch  toward 
the  sides.  A  better  mode  of  repairing  is  to  pass  some 
form  of  a  scraper  with  converging  flanges  over  the  road, 
so  that  the  materials  cast  out  from  the  ruts  may  be  drawn 


142  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

back  into  those  depressions.  A  simple  and  tolerably  effec- 
tive tool  may  be  made  by  taking  a  large,  heavy  wagon-tire 
and  loading  it  by  a  bar  or  iron  or  other  weight  strapped 
across  the  middle.  This,  when  dragged  by  a  horse  along  the 
rutted  portion  of  the  road,  will,  though  rather  inadequately, 
help  to  mend  the  way  by  dragging  the  material  into  the 
ruts.  It  is  much  to  be  desired  that  the  road  machines  in 
common  use  should  have  an  attachment  suited  to  this 
purpose. 

It  is  characteristic  of  gravel  roads  that  they  take  time 
to  come  into  good  condition.  Rarely  do  they  show  at  their 
best  until  they  have  been  in  use  for  several  years,  all  the 
while  being  subjected  to  frequent  repairs.  Given  mate- 
rial of  good  quality,  and  diligent  care  in  its  use,  a  road  of 
this  nature  may  be  made  as  good  as  one  built  of  broken 
stone.  Owing,  however,  to  the  small  size  of  the  fragments 
which  take  the  blows  of  wheels  and  feet,  the  rate  at  which 
the  materials  pass  into  dust  is,  in  almost  all  cases,  much 
more  rapid  than  where  the  larger  fragments  of  artificially 
broken  stone  are  used.  No  good  data  are  in  existence  to 
show  the  relative  rates  of  wear  on  these  two  classes  of 
ways,  but  it  appears  likely  that  on  an  ordinary  country 
road,  where  the  carriages  rarely  weigh  more  than  a  ton 
and  a  half,  this  rate  is  about  one  half  greater  on  the 
graveled  way  than  on  that  paved  with  broken  stone, 
and  that  the  expense  of  occasional  repairs  is  in  about  the 
same  proportion.  On  this  basis  we  may  safely  assume 
that  in  money  costs  it  is  more  economical  to  build  the  less 
used  rural  ways  of  gravel  than  of  broken  stone.  When 
the  sources  of  supply  of  these  two  classes  of  materials  are 
equally  near  at  hand,  the  graveled  way  is  likely  to  cost 
for  the  superstructure  alone  not  more  than  from  thirty- 
five  to  forty-five  per  cent,  of  the  broken-stone  covering. 


METHODS  OF  CONSTEUCTING  EOADS  143 

The  interest  chargeable  on  the  surplus  of  cost  of  the  last- 
named  kind  of  road  would,  in  most  cases,  be  sufficient  to 
provide  for  the  considerable  annual  charge  due  to  the 
larger  amount  of  repairs  required  on  the  weaker  graveled 
ways. 

COST   OF  MAINTENANCE 

As  yet  observations  as  to  the  relative  cost  of  maintain- 
ing these  two  classes  of  ways  do  not  permit  us  to  make 
any  definite  statements  as  to  the  expense  which  they  re- 
spectively entail.  It  is,  however,  tolerably  plain  that  the 
greater  cheapness  of  the  graveled  way  makes  the  consid- 
eration of  that  method  of  construction  fit,  wherever  suit- 
able material  is  to  be  had  at  a  low  price,  and  where  the 
ways  do  not  have  to  endure  heavy  travel.  It  may  safely 
be  assumed  that,  wherever  a  road  has  to  bear  each  day  the 
burden  of  haK  a  dozen  or  more  teams  with  loads  exceed- 
ing three  tons  in  weight,  the  economy  of  gravel  is  very 
doubtful. 

As  the  principal  difficulty  in  maintaining  gravel  roads 
arises  from  the  rapidity  with  which  they  wear  out  under 
the  stress  of  heavy  vehicles,  it  is  often  well,  when  the  tax 
of  repairs  becomes  excessive,  to  cover  the  surface  after  it 
has  been  brought  to  the  desired  shape  with  a  coating  of 
broken  stone.  This  coating,  if  laid  on  an  old,  weU-com- 
pacted  gravel  way,  need  not  be  more  than  four  or  five 
inches  thick  after  rolling  in  order  to  secure  the  best  re- 
sults ;  in  fact,  a  little  more  than  one  half  the  stone  required 
to  build  a  Macadam  way  on  ordinary  foundations  will 
serve  to  build  the  road  if  it  is  laid  on  an  established  base 
of  this  nature.  It  is  thus  evident  that,  even  where  the 
ultimate  maintenance  of  the  way  with  this  material  is 
doubtful,  it  may  often  be  judicious  to  begin  the  improve- 


144  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

meut  of  a  country  road  by  constructing  it  of  gravel.  If 
in  time  the  traffic  proves  too  heavy  for  the  relatively  weak 
structure,  the  stronger  top  coating  may  be  applied  j  the 
total  expense  of  the  way  in  its  final  state  being  little  if 
any  more  than  what  would  have  been  incurred  in  case  the 
building  had  been  done  with  broken  stone  at  the  outset 
of  the  undertaking.  Although  this  recommendation  of 
experiments  with  graveled  ways  may  not  commend  itself 
to  many  engineers  who  look  rather  to  substantial  work 
of  the  highest  order  than  to  the  economy  which  must 
guide  in  such  matters,  the  writer  is  convinced  that,  with 
the  greater  part  of  our  rural  ways,  the  policy  as  above 
outlined  is  worth  a  careful  consideration. 

As  regards  graveled  ways  it  is  well  to  note  that,  where 
the  cementing  capacity  of  the  material  is  not  good,  it  may 
often  be  greatly  improved  by  covering  the  surface  to  the 
depth  of  about  an  inch  with  any  of  the  red  or  brown  iron 
ores  which  are  so  commonly  found  in  nearly  all  parts  of 
this  country.  Even  where  these  ores  are  so  impure  that 
they  have  no  value  as  sources  of  metallic  iron,  they  maj^ 
serve  excellently  well  as  binding  materials  to  hold  the 
pebbles  of  gravel  in  a  well-knit  mass.  One  of  the  com- 
monest and  most  accessible  fields  of  supply  of  ferruginous 
materials  is  to  be  found  in  the  layer  of  limonite  ore  which 
is  formed  in  the  bottoms  of  swamps  wherever  the  water 
which  drains  into  them  contains  a  notable  quantity  of 
iron.  In  by  far  the  greater  number  of  the  swamps  which 
lie  mthin  the  glaciated  district  of  this  and  other  countries 
this  layer  is  to  be  found  having  a  thickness  of  from  a  few 
inches  to  some  feet ;  its  presence  can  be  readily  ascertained 
by  means  of  a  metallic  sounding-rod,  such  as  a  crowbar, 
or,  better,  by  using  a  section  of  steel  pipe,  which  may,  by 
driving  into  the  bed,  be  made  to  bring  up  a  sample  of  the 


METHODS  OF   CONSTRUCTING  ROADS  145 

material.  In  the  condition  in  which  they  are  usually  found 
these  iron  ores  are  quite  solid ;  they  need  to  be  broken  to 
small  bits  before  they  are  applied  to  the  roadway.  In  this 
shape  they  will  be  quickly  pulverized  by  the  wheels,  and 
in  part  dissolved  by  the  rain-water,  so  that  the  material 
may  enter  the  road-bed  and  do  the  desired  work.  Where 
iron  ores  are  used  for  cementation  they  must  be,  from  time 
to  time,  freshly  applied.  The  effect  of  a  coating  an  inch 
or  two  in  thickness  may  last  for  four  or  five  years,  but  the 
leaching  action  may  remove  the  material  in  less  time.  From 
the  observations  of  the  writer,  the  use  of  iron  ore  or  ce- 
ment is  especially  advisable  where  the  pebbles  of  a  gravel 
are  mainly  of  white  quartz.  Such  bits  of  stone  are  so  hard 
and  smooth  that  it  is  practically  impossible  to  bring  them 
into  a  firm-set  mass  without  such  a  ''  binder."  It  is  likely 
that  limestone  mingled  with  quartz  pebbles  would  in  a 
measure  induce  the  same  union  of  the  bits  of  smooth 
stone,  but  this  experiment  appears  not  to  be  recorded. 

At  certain  points  in  this  country  gravels  are  found 
which  are  already  mingled  with  ii'on  oxide  in  proportions 
well  suited  to  give  the  desired  cementing  effect.  So  far 
as  observed,  such  deposits  do  not  occur  in  any  quantity 
in  the  glacial  drift;  they  are  characteristically  old  river 
accumulations  which  have  been  left  above  the  range  of 
the  streams  which  laid  them  down  by  the  downcutting  of 
the  channels.  Having  been  long  exposed  to  the  action 
of  the  soil  waters,  the  fragments  of  iron  ore  which  the 
mass  contained  have  been  dissolved  and  disseminated 
through  it  so  as  to  cover  all  the  pebbles.  These  gravels 
are  not  so  firmly  bound  as  to  make  it  difficult  to  excavate 
them.  When  placed  on  a  road  the  material  quickl}^  com- 
pacts into  a  tolerably  firm  mass.  Although,  so  far  as 
known  to  me,  these  iron-charged  old  stream  gravels  have 


146  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

been  exploited  only  in  the  region  about  the  junction  of 
the  Ohio  and  Tennessee  rivers  in  western  Kentucky,  there 
is  reason  to  believe  that  they  may  be  discovered  along  the 
banks  of  many  of  our  Southern  rivers.  They  may  properly 
be  sought  in  any  terraces  lying  above  the  flood-plains  of 
those  streams.  Their  presence  is  likely  to  be  indicated  on 
the  higher  ground  by  the  plow.  They  are  apt  to  appear 
in  the  banks  of  the  streams  which  cut  through  the  deposit. 

Closely  akin  to  gravel  are  the  small,  water-worn  frag- 
ments of  rock  and  the  talus  accumulations  found  beneath 
cliffs  or  on  steep  hillsides  in  the  regions  south  of  the 
glaciated  districts.  These  talus  bits,  not  having  been 
water-worn,  retain  their  sharp  angles.  They  are  indeed 
natural  Macadam  material  of  a  relatively  poor  quality 
for  the  reason  that,  while  still  angular,  they  are  always 
much  softened  by  decay.  Still,  in  some  parts  of  the 
southern  Appalachians  they  may  properly  be  sought 
for  a  road  stone.  The  only  rocks  the  talus  fragments 
of  which  retain  their  shape  are  the  cherts,  which  at  the 
best  are  too  brittle  to  endure  well,  though  for  a  time 
they  make  a  fairly  good  but  rather  dusty  way.  When 
used  these  talus  breccias  may  be  treated  in  the  manner 
followed  with  other  broken  stone.  It  is  always  best  to 
pass  the  fragments  through  a  crusher  and  sizing-drums. 

Somewhat  allied  to  the  old  river  gravels  are  the  wide- 
spread deposits  of  pebbly,  generally  reddish  clays  which 
cover  so  large  a  part  of  the  Piedmont  district  of  the 
Southern  States  of  this  Union.  Although  in  general  these 
pebbles,  from  the  so-called  Lafayette  formation,  are  mixed 
with  clay  in  so  great  a  measure  that  they  cannot  well  be 
employed  in  road-making  without  a  process  of  separation, 
it  often  happens  that  considerable  masses  of  the  beds  are 
in  excellent  state  for  use  without  any  other  treatment  than 


METHODS  OF   CONSTRUCTINa  ROADS  147 

the  simple  process  of  picking  out  the  bits  which  are  too 
large  to  be  applied  to  the  road.  It  is  often  the  case  that 
the  ferruginous  matter  of  these  Lafayette  beds  exists  as 
a  coating  on  the  pebbles,  and  is  sufficient  in  quantity  to 
bring  about  a  tolerably  firm  binding  of  the  material  when 
it  is  placed  on  a  road.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  in  places 
where  they  occur  other  and  better  road-building  materials 
are  often  lacking,  these  upland  gravels  of  the  South  are 
to  be  recommended  for  use  in  the  maintenance  of  ways 
in  the  southern  part  of  this  country.  They  may  be  used 
in  many  places  with  such  economy  that  a  good  road,  apart 
from  grading,  can  probably  be  made  for  a  cost  of  less  than 
one  thousand  doUars  per  mile. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  most  immediate  prospect  of 
bettering  our  American  country  roads,  apart  from  the 
main  ways,  consists  in  a  systematic  utilization  of  the  ex- 
tensive and  varied  gravels  which  are  to  be  found  in  aU 
the  ancient  glaciated  district  and  in  nearly  aU  of  the  more 
southern  districts.  Therefore  the  just  aim  of  intelligent 
road-masters  should  be  to  seek  out  the  deposits  of  this 
natui-e  within  their  respective  districts,  ascertaining  their 
value  and  the  means  whereby  the  best  results  may  be  ob- 
tained from  their  use.  As  before  stated,  little  in  the  way 
of  useful  directions  can  be  given  that  wiU  serve  to  guide 
the  explorer  in  this  field ;  but  experiment  with  the  materials 
in  short  bits  of  road  is  not  costly,  and  if  care  be  taken  to 
use  pebbles  tolerably  free  from  sand  and  as  free  as  possible 
from  clay,  except  it  have  a  yerj  ferruginous  character, 
the  results  will  in  almost  aU  cases  be  in  a  fair  measm-e 
satisfactory.  Where  the  experiment  fails  it  wiU  usually 
be  because  the  pebbles  are  of  smooth  hard  quartz,  or  where, 
being  of  other  kinds  of  rock,  they  are  so  far  decayed  that 
they  fall  to  dust  when  subjected  to  the  strain  which  they 


148  AMEEICAN  HIGHWAYS 

have  to  meet  in  the  roadways.  It  should  be  understood 
that  the  road-master  has  to  make  himself  in  many  ways 
a  competent  observer  of  nature.  There  is  no  better  place 
for  him  to  begin  this  work  than  by  the  study  of  gravels, 
which  are,  indeed,  among  the  most  interesting  and  varied 
of  all  the  objects  with  which  the  geologist  has  to  deal.  In 
this  business  he  will  do  well  to  trust  to  himself,  for,  while 
there  are  many  learned  treatises  on  gravels,  there  are  none 
which  will  serve  his  needs.  It  is  indeed  much  to  be  desired 
that  the  States  which  are  moving  for  better  highways 
should  have  careful  studies  made  concerning  the  gravels 
within  their  several  areas,  or  that  the  federal  Geological 
Survey  should  undertake  the  task  for  the  whole  country. 

MACADAM   ROADS 

Where  it  has  been  determined  to  build  or  rather  harden 
a  road  by  the  use  of  artificial  broken  stone,  the  question 
at  once  arises  as  to  the  source  whence  the  material  is  to 
be  obtained.  As  noted  in  the  chapters  on  the  distribution 
of  road  materials,  there  are  but  few  sections  of  this  country 
where  quarries  yielding  suitable  stone  exist  or  can  be 
opened  near  the  site  of  any  road.  The  varieties  of  rock 
which  are  fit  for  such  use  are  of  relatively  rare  occurrence. 
The  result  is  that  in  most  cases  the  cost  of  transportation 
of  the  broken  stone  to  the  way,  provided  it  is  obtained  by 
quarrying,  is  likely  to  be  the  largest  element  in  the  expense 
of  its  application.  If  the  road  is  to  be  subjected  to  a  heavy 
traffic  other  than  that  based  on  agriculture,  it  is  usually 
worth  while  to  incur  this  cost  at  least  for  the  upper  laj^ers 
of  the  construction,  and  this  even  where  the  charge  for 
transportation  amounts  to  as  much  as  a  dollar  a  ton.  But 
on  less  taxed  ways  it  is  in  most  instances  best  to  depend 


METHODS  OF  CONSTRUCTING  ROADS  149 

on  cheaper  local  materials  where  such  can  be  had  of  fair 
quality.  For  this  purpose  the  road-master  should  care- 
fully study  the  sources  of  local  supply ;  first  of  all,  those 
which  are  to  be  found  in  the  "field  stone."  By  the  term 
'Afield  stone"  are  indicated  the  loose  fragments  of  rock 
which  in  the  greater  part  of  the  upland  districts  are  to 
be  found  scattered  over  the  surface  or  accumulated  in 
the  river-beds.  Except  where  these  boulders  are  of  quartz- 
ite  of  a  crystalline  nature,  with  a  sugar-hke  fracture,  or 
of  slate,  they  are,  if  not  too  much  softened  by  decay,  tol- 
erably well  fitted  for  use  in  macadamizing. 

METHODS   OP   PREPARING   STONE 

In  the  old,  generally  disused  method  of  preparing  stone 
for  road  use  the  breaking  was  done  by  use  of  a  light,  long- 
handled  hammer,  an  expert  laborer  being  able  to  break 
an  amount  varying  from  half  a  cubic  yard  of  the  toughest 
traps  and  granites  to  two  cubic  yards  of  hmestone  per 
diem.  Allowing  the  wages  to  be  one  dollar  and  a  liaK  per 
day,  the  expense  for  a  cubic  yard  would  thus  vary,  accord- 
ing to  the  nature  of  the  material,  from  seventy-five  cents 
to  three  dollars.  This  primitive  method  caused  the  charge 
for  breaking  to  be  in  most  cases  the  heaviest  element  of 
the  cost  of  broken-stone  roads.  In  the  modern  system, 
made  possible  by  the  invention  of  the  jaw-crusher,  the 
stone  can  usually  be  crushed  at  a  cost  not  exceeding  thirty 
cents  per  ton.  Contracts  for  preparing  lots  of  from  three 
to  five  thousand  tons  can  usually  be  let  at  that  price. 
When  municipalities  own  the  necessary  plant  for  this  work 
they  can  usually  crush  the  stone,  after  it  is  delivered  on 
the  platform,  for  less  than  thirty-five  cents  per  ton,  allow- 
ance being  made  for  interest,  depreciation,  etc.     It  may 


150  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

also  be  noted  that  there  is  relatively  little  difference  in  the 
output  of  a  crusher  due  to  the  variation  in  the  character 
of  the  stone.  The  range  on  this  account  is  probably  not 
over  fifteen  per  cent.  There  is,  however,  a  decided  differ- 
ence in  the  cost  of  repairs,  which  may  be  doubled  or 
trebled  by  unusual  toughness  in  the  material  supplied  to 
the  machine.  Allowing  for  these  conditions,  the  cost  of 
crushing  by  hand,  as  compared  with  that  by  steam,  is 
probably  on  the  average  as  one  to  three  in  favor  of  the 
modern  method. 

It  should  be  noted  that  there  are  certain  collateral 
advantages  in  favor  of  the  hand  method  which  serve,  in  a 
way,  to  balance  the  account  as  above  rendered.  All  the 
existing  forms  of  crushers  which  have  proved  service- 
able are  so  constructed  that  they  cannot  be  conveniently 
moved.  The  cost  of  taking  them  to  pieces,  even  for  a 
journey  of  say  two  miles,  including  the  expense  of  water- 
supply,  etc.,  may  be  reckoned  at  two  hundred  dollars. 
The  result  is  that  in  practice  it  is  not  found  profitable  to 
set  up  the  apparatus  with  the  intention  of  crushing  less 
than  about  five  thousand  tons,  which  commonly  requires 
that  from  one  position  the  plant  is  to  supplj^  the  stone  for 
a  mile  each  way  from  the  site  it  occupies.  This  means 
that  the  broken  stone  has  to  be  hauled  for  an  average  dis- 
tance of  half  a  mile  to  the  point  where  it  is  to  be  used. 
The  charge  for  this  hauling  may  be  reckoned  at  twentjr 
cents  per  ton.  Where  the  stone  is  broken  on  the  side  of 
the  road  for  repairs,  or  in  the  center  of  the  way  when  the 
construction  is  new,  this  last-mentioned  cost  is  avoided. 
Moreover,  the  power-crusher,  especially  when  operating 
on  field  stone,  produces  a  very  much  larger  amount  of 
"  fines  "  and  dust  than  is  made  in  hand-breaking.  While 
a  portion  of  these  materials  may  advantageously  be  em- 


METHODS  OF  CONSTRUCTING  ROADS  151 

ployed  in  finishing  the  broken-stone  surface  of  the  road, 
there  is  often  a  great  excess  of  the  supply,  which,  except 
it  be  used  for  sidewalks  or  kept  for  repairs,  is  worthless. 
If  retained  for  later  top-dressings  of  the  road  it  should  be 
housed  to  prevent  decay,  a  process  which  entails  much 
expense.  Thus  the  excessive  production  of  "fines,"  when 
field  stone  is  used,  in  the  crusher  is  apt  to  add  from  five 
to  ten  cents  per  ton  to  the  cost  of  the  available  product, 
or,  in  other  words,  the  incidental  expenses  of  power-crush- 
ing are  likely  to  bring  the  cost  of  the  process  in  certain 
cases  very  nearly  to  that  incurred  in  hand- breaking.  It 
is  to  be  said,  however,  for  the  power-crusher  that  by  the 
system  of  sizing-drums  it  brings  the  product  to  nearly 
uniform  dimensions,  a  feature  which,  as  we  shall  shortly 
have  occasion  to  note,  is  one  of  much  importance  in  the 
work. 

Although  the  power-crusher  has  done  much  to  cheapen 
the  cost  of  Macadam  roads,  it  does  not  follow  that  hand- 
breaking  should  everywhere  be  abandoned.  In  many 
parts  of  the  country,  where  the  stone  is  of  an  easily 
broken  nature,  and  where  at  certain  times  of  the  year 
labor  is  cheap,  and  especially  where  it  is  intended  to  build 
but  a  narrow  hardened  way  of  broken  field  stone,  it  may 
be  found  best  to  continue  the  ancient  method  of  the  ham- 
mer. I  am  disposed  to  protest  against  the  assumption 
that  is  now  so  generally  made,  that  no  economy  in  build- 
ing macadamized  roads  can  be  attained  without  the  use 
of  the  crusher,  mainly  for  the  reason  that  the  great  cost 
of  such  apparatus  will  assuredly  limit  its  use  to  rela- 
tively rich  communities,  while  the  main  object  of  the 
friends  of  good  roads  should  be  to  promote  their  con- 
struction in  the  poorer  parts  of  the  country.  If  the  erro- 
neous notion  becomes  established  that  hand-breaking  is 


152  AMEEICAN  HIGHWAYS 

always  hopelessly  expensive,  we  sliall  have  a  new  and  un- 
reasonable prejudice  to  contend  against,  one  which  will 
serve  to  block  the  way  to  the  improvement  of  our  rural 
highways.  It  is  a  characteristic  humor  of  our  time  to 
worship  machinery  and  to  assume  that  any  inhuman  form 
of  power  is  cheaper  and  better  than  that  of  the  hand  of 
man.  In  the  case  of  stone-breaking,  as  in  that  of  many 
other  arts,  the  advantage  in  the  way  of  economy  in  the 
machine  over  the  hand  is  in  many  places  decisive ;  but 
this  is  not  to  be  taken  as  showing  that  in  all  instances 
the  new  should  be  made  to  displace  the  old  method.  It 
is  the  part  of  the  engineer  to  keep  an  open  mind  in  all 
such  matters,  allowing  the  conditions  of  each  problem  to 
determine  the  ways  in  which  it  should  be  dealt  with. 

The  most  distinct  advantage  of  power-breaking  is  that 
it  is  possible  with  that  method,  as  it  is  not  economically 
so  with  hand- work,  to  size  the  stone  into  those  dimensions 
which  can  be  applied  in  successive  layers  upon  the  road. 
Experience  shows  clearly  that  the  endurance  of  the  way 
depends  in  large  measure  upon  this  arrangement  of  the 
materials,  for  where  a  fragment  say  six  inches  in  di- 
ameter lies  amid  bits  say  only  two  inches  through,  it 
always  tends  to  work  up  to  the  surface.  In  a  less  degree 
the  same  action  is  seen  where  the  diameters  of  the  pieces 
differ  only  as  two  to  one.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  in 
wet  weather,  particularly  after  a  time  of  frost,  the  stones 
of  the  way  are  not  firmly  bound  together,  but  are  likely 
to  rock  about  as  heavily  laden  vehicles  pass  over  them. 
In  this  movement  the  larger  the  fragment  the  greater  its 
swing,  because  of  the  length  of  the  leverage  which  it  gives 
to  the  stress.  In  these  swayings  the  smaller  bits  contin- 
ually faU  beneath  the  lifted  ends  of  the  larger  stone,  so 
that  at  each  movement  it  rises  higher  until  it  appears 


METHODS  OF  CONSTRUCTING  ROADS  153 

on  tlie  surface.  In  its  upward  movement  it  works  to  dis- 
organize the  structure  of  the  road.  Where  it  escapes  it 
makes  a  weak  place  which  is  apt  to  become  the  seat  of  a 
cradle-hole. 

PREPARATION  OF   THE   ROAD-BED 

The  preparation  of  the  bed  for  the  broken  stone  re- 
quires, as  in  the  case  of  all  roads,  some  careful  surveying 
to  determine  and  stake  out  the  cross-sections.  After  this 
is  done  all  the  true  soil  layer  should  be  cleared  away  5  i.e., 
all  that  shows  much  vegetable  matter,  all  trees,  bushes, 
and  roots,  need  to  be  entirely  removed  from  the  bed.  If 
this  clearing  reveals  ton  gravel,  compact  sand,  or  a  true 
hard-pan  such  as  wiU  not  soften  when  wetted,  the  road 
may  be  founded  on  it.  Where  the  bottom  is  of  clay  such 
as  softens  in  wet  weather  it  is  best  to  excavate  for  the 
intended  width  of  the  hardened  road  to  a  depth  of  about 
sixteen  inches  below  the  crown-line  of  the  way  as  it  is  to 
be  completed.  In  the  bottom  of  the  excavation  a  layer  of 
gravel  four  inches  thick  should  be  placed,  and  on  this  a 
layer  of  rather  large  bits  of  stone,  set  by  hand  on  edge,  in 
general  after  the  method  of  TeKord.  This  layer  of  stone 
should  be  compacted  with  the  steam-roller.  A  cheaper 
plan  which  has  been  successfully  used  as  an  alternative 
is  to  use  only  gravel  in  the  foundation  of  the  bed,  the 
layer  being  made  twelve  inches  thick.  When  the  ground 
is  very  soft  the  TeKord  method  is  clearly  the  better,  and 
in  this  case  the  work  should  be  done  with  large,  prefer- 
ably flake-shaped  stones  set  carefully  together,  the  inter- 
spaces being  filled  by  jamming  smaller  bits  into  them. 
The  rough  surface  of  this  subpavement  should  be  broken 
down  to  something  hke  uniformity  by  the  use  of  heavy 


154  AMEEICAN  HIGHWAYS 

hammers,  so  that  no  projecting  points  will  come  within 
four  inches  of  the  surface  of  the  finished  road.  When 
completed  this  pavement  should  be  arched  slightly  toward 
the  center,  with  no  more  than  the  pitch  which  is  to  be 
given  to  the  surface,  or  say  about  half  an  inch  to  the  foot. 


Fig.  10.— Section  of  Holyhead  Road.     Built  by  Thomas  Telford. 
Section  showing  paving  foundation. 


Fig.  11.— Section  of  Holyhead  Koad.     Built  by  Thomas  Telford. 
Section  showing  gravel  foundation  instead  of  pavement. 

Where,  as  is  often  the  case  on  the  seaboard  or  in  the 
glaciated  districts  of  the  interior  of  this  country,  the 
trench  of  the  roadwaj^  is  bottomed  in  soft  sand,  some 
hardening  of  the  surface  is  necessary,  else  the  roller  will 
churn  the  sand  and  broken  stone  together,  until  the  mix- 
ture, which  has  no  value  whatever  in  the  road  structure, 
has  absorbed,  it  may  be,  half  of  the  materials  reckoned  on 
for  the  hardened  way.  To  hold  the  stone  and  the  sand 
apart  it  has  been  the  usual  practice  to  cover  the  sand  with 
a  layer  of  pebbles  of  conveniently  large  size  before  the 
bottom  layer  of  broken  stone  was  laid  down.  This  is  an 
expedient  which  is  often  costly  and  sometimes  impracti- 
cable from  lack  of  fit  materials.  An  experimental  inquiry 
into  the  conditions  of  the  movement  of  sand  under  pres- 
sure led  to  the  conclusion  that  an  arrangement  which 
would  prevent  the  sand  from  mingling  with  the  stones, 


METHODS   OF   CONSTRUCTING   ROADS  155 

for  the  brief  time  required  for  the  passage  of  the  roller  in 
its  first  traverses  over  the  road,  would  attain  the  desired 
end.  It  is  not  at  aU  needful  that  the  partition  should  be 
enduring,  for  as  soon  as  the  lower  layer  of  stones  has 
been  forced  into  contact,  and  has  become  bound  together, 
there  is  no  further  danger  of  the  mingling  of  the  bits  with 
the  sand ;  thus  the  speedy  decay  of  the  fabric  is  a  matter 
of  no  consequence.  As  the  results  of  careful  tests  made  by 
Mr.  Charles  Mills,  the  chief  engineer  of  the  Massachusetts 
Highway  Commission,  and  with  the  assistance  of  Mr. 
W.  P.  McClintock,  the  engineer  member  of  the  board,  it  ap- 
peared that  ordinary  cotton  cloth  of  the  cheapest  quality, 
such  as  goes  under  the  name  of  cheese-cloth,  if  spread  upon 
the  sand  after  the  road  is  shaped  to  receive  the  broken  stone, 
will  serve  to  keep  the  stone  and  sand  from  churning  to- 
gether. This  method  was  carefully  tried  in  macadamizing 
the  State  road  between  Cottage  City  and  Edgartown,  Mas- 
sachusetts. The  cloth  was  spread  in  strips  lengthwise  of 
the  way ;  the  stone  for  the  bottom  layer  was  shoveled  from 
the  sides  upon  it  with  no  unusual  care.  When  the  roller 
came  to  be  used  it  was  found  that  the  stone  acted  essen- 
tially as  if  it  was  on  an  ordinarily  firm  foundation ;  it  at 
once  united  with  the  usual  number  of  passages  of  the 
roller  over  it.  At  the  present  price  of  cotton,  cheese-cloth 
can  be  had  in  large  quantities  at  a  cost  of  about  three 
cents  per  square  yard  on  the  road.  This  for  a  hardened 
way  fifteen  feet  in  width  amounts  to  about  seven  hun- 
dred and  fifty  dollars  per  mile,  which  is  often  much  less 
than  the  cost  of  any  other  effective  means  of  attaining  the 
object,  and  may  be  less  than  one  third  that  due  to  the 
loss  of  the  broken  stone  which  would  occur  if  it  were 
allowed  to  come  directly  in  contact  with  the  sand.  A 
section  through  such  a  "  petticoat  road,"  as  it  has  been 


156  AMEEICAN  HIGHWAYS 

termed,  shows  that  the  stones  do  not  tear  through  the 
cloth.  It  is  indeed  probable  that  material  of  even  slighter 
texture  and  of  much  less  cost  would  serve.  Various  kinds 
of  strong  paper  were  tried,  but  found  worthless. 

THE  PROCESS  OF   COMPACTING 

When  the  foundation  for  the  stone  has  been  prepared 
the  first  layer  of  fragments  may  be  spread.  Where  trap 
or  other  rock  of  like  hardness  is  used  the  lower  stratum 
may  be  made  six  inches  in  depth  before  rolling,  the  frag- 
ments by  screening  at  the  crusher  being  brought  to  a 
range  in  diameter  from  one  and  a  quarter  to  two  and 
a  half  inches.  After  rolling  this  layer  will  be  dimin- 
ished in  thickness  to  about  four  inches.  It  is  best  to 
have  the  length  of  the  strip  thus  metaled  not  less  than 
two  hundred  feet.  The  spreading  should  be  evenly  done. 
When  the  broken  stone  is  dumped  from  carts  it  should  faU 
on  wooden  platforms  5  otherwise  the  part  which  remains 
after  the  rest  of  the  heap  is  spread,  being  somewhat  more 
compacted  than  the  rest,  is  Likely  to  make  a  higher  place 
in  the  finished  road.  The  roller  should  now  be  passed 
over  the  surface,  beginning  on  the  edges  and  working 
toward  the  center.  This  should  be  continued  until  the 
mass  is  firmly  set,  until  it  ceases  to  move  under  the  tread, 
until,  indeed,  a  stone  of  the  larger  size  used  in  the  layer 
wiU  be  crushed  by  the  instrument  without  indenting  the 
mass.  Still  in  this  state  it  must  not  be  expected  that  the 
stones  will  be  so  firmly  set  that  they  will  not  shake  under 
the  tread  of  a  man. 

On  top  of  such  a  trap  or  other  hard  foundation-stone, 
which  by  roUing  will  have  come  down  from  its  original 
thickness  in  the  loose  state  of  six  inches  to  about  four 


METHODS  OF  CONSTRUCTINa  ROADS  157 

inches  in  depth,  the  second  layer  of  three  inches  thick  of 
stone,  the  fragments  ranging  in  size  from  one  haK  to 
one  and  a  quarter  inches,  is  to  be  placed.  This  is  to  be 
rolled  as  before  until  it  exhibits  the  same  evidence  of 
due  firmness.  As  with  the  fij'st  layer,  all  irregularities  of 
surface  which  may  be  developed  by  rolling  are  to  be  cor- 
rected by  filling  in  the  depressions  with  stone  of  the  same 
size  as  that  in  the  body  of  the  layer.  When  this  second 
layer  appears  firm  and  smooth,  a  coating  of  ^'  fines,"  or 
fragments  from  the  crusher  up  to  half  an  inch  in  di- 
ameter, is  to  be  spread  to  the  depth  of  about  half  an 
inch.  The  roller  is  then  to  be  passed  over  this  last  layer, 
with  the  result  that  the  bits  will  be  ground  to  powder. 
At  this  stage  the  road  is  to  be  sprinkled  with  a  watering- 
cart,  but  one  with  fine  apertures  in  the  pipes,  the  work 
being  done  in  several  passages.  The  roller  is  then  again 
to  traverse  the  way  until  in  its  movement  the  water  is 
forced  upward  or  pushes  before  the  drums  of  the  machine. 
The  aim  of  this  combined  rolling  and  watering,  after  a 
coating  of  dust  has  been  applied,  is  to  insui'e  the  entrance 
into  the  cavities  or  voids  between  the  broken  stones  of  a 
sufficient  amount  of  the  powdered  rock  to  act  as  a  cement, 
which  serves  to  hold  the  mass  together.  In  part  this  dust 
is  made  where  it  is  most  needed,  at  the  contact  of  the  bits 
with  one  another  as  they  are  ground  together  by  the  roller  j 
but  experience  shows  that  this  amount  is  insufficient  to 
give  an  adequate  binding  effect. 

It  might  naturally  be  supposed  that  this  introduction 
of  cement  should  be  carried  so  far  as  to  fill  in  all  the 
voids  between  the  bits  of  stone  down  to  the  foundation. 
Practical  tests,  however,  show  that  this  is  unnecessary 
and  probably  undesirable.  If  the  upper  three  inches  of 
the  macadam  are  well  bound  together,  it  will  suffice  for  all 

10 


158  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

the  needs  of  strength.  The  open  condition  of  the  lower 
part  of  the  mass  promotes  drainage  and  keeps  the  har- 
dened way  in  a  somewhat  elastic  state.  As  the  upper 
layer  wears  away  the  dust  will  wash  down  into  the  lower 
previously  open  spaces  in  such  a  manner  as  will  keep  the 
three  or  four  inches  just  below  the  surface  in  a  well- 
cemented  state. 


:|---^^--f^ 


Fig.  12. — A  General  Cross-section  of  Macadam  Streets. 
AA  =  Gravel  sidewalks.    BB  =  Loam  embankments. 

Where  the  broken  stone  is  of  a  rather  soft  nature,  as  is 
usually  the  case  where  the  material  has  been  gathered 
from  the  fields  or  stream-beds,  it  is  perhaps  desirable  to 
place  it  on  the  road  in  three  different  layers,  arranged  as 
before  in  the  order  of  the  sizes  of  the  fragments,  the  first 
two  layers  being  each  about  four  and  a  half  inches  thick 
before  rolling,  in  each  case  the  bits  being  from  half  an 
inch  to  two  and  a  haK  inches  in  diameter,  the  lowest 
layer  being  rolled,  as  before,  before  the  second  is  placed 
upon  it.  The  surface  of  the  upper  layer  after  due  rolling 
is  covered  with  screenings,  which  are  rolled  and  watered 
as  already  described  in  the  account  of  the  treatment  of  a 
way  built  of  the  harder  kinds  of  stone.  Although  this 
system  has  the  advantage  that  it  provides  larger  and 
therefore  stronger  fragments  of  stone  to  take  the  pressure 
of  the  wheels,  it  is  open  to  the  objection,  previously  noted, 
that  these  larger  bits  tend  to  work  upward  to  the  surface. 
It  is  questionable  whether  the  advantage  due  to  the  evi- 
dent gain  in  resistance   to  the  crushing  action  of  the 


METHODS  OF  CONSTRUCTING  ROADS  159 

wheels  is  not  more  than  offset  by  the  risk  of  the  broken 
stone  becoming  loosened. 

When  a  broken-stone  road  has  been  brought  to  a  nor- 
mal condition  of  surface  the  observer,  by  sweeping  away 
the  coating  of  dust,  will  see  that  the  surface  has  the  aspect 
of  a  rude  mosaic,  the  flat  faces  of  the  bits  being  crowded 
against  one  another  so  that  the  interspaces  which  are  filled 
with  cement  occupy  more  than  about  one  third  of  the 
area.  As  the  wheels  pass  over  this  mosaic  the  horizontal 
surfaces  of  the  fragments  take  the  impact  and  uphold  the 
burden,  while  the  softer  cement  yields  and  crowds  to 
force  its  way  downward.  The  abrasion  of  the  stone  which 
takes  place  under  the  wearing  action  of  the  traffic  alone 
on  a  well-shaped  road  is,  where  the  stone  is  fairly  hard 
and  well  kept  in  position,  by  no  means  rapid.  It  is,  how- 
ever, much  affected  by  a  variety  of  other  conditions :  those 
of  climate,  form  of  wheels,  etc.  These  conditions  we  have 
now  to  consider  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  way. 

WEAR   AND   REPAIRS 

It  is  characteristic  of  roads,  as  compared  with  other  art 
products,  that  it  is  relatively  very  difficult  to  find  out  the 
share  which  the  various  depreciating  agents  have  in  de- 
grading their  conditions.  It  is  easy  to  tell  to  what  the 
instability  of  a  building  or  the  excessive  wearing  of  a 
steam-engine  is  due.  Not  so,  however,  in  the  case  of  a 
road.  Simple  as  the  thing  looks,  it  is,  as  regards  the  in- 
fluences which  affect  it,  perhaps  the  most  complicated  and 
locally  varied  result  of  man's  labor.  In  analyzing  the 
causes  of  wear  on  a  Macadam  road  we  find  that  we  have 
in  general  to  assign  the  first  place  to  atmospheric  agencies. 


160  AMEEICAN  HIGHWAYS 

These  operate  in  several  ways.  Where  the  bed  freezes  and 
thaws  the  effect  is  to  break  up  the  union  between  the 
fragments  and  to  expose  them  to  the  decay  arising  from 
the  penetration  of  water  into  the  layers.  If  the  mass  can 
be  kept  fairly  water-proof  the  effect  of  this  action  in  de- 
composing the  road  material  is  practically  limited  to  the 
upper  surface  of  the  stone.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  mud 
formed  on  a  much-traveled  road  contains  much  dung,  so 
that  the  water  which  enters  the  mass  has,  because  of 
various  acids  which  are  derived  from  the  organic  matter, 
a  considerable  capacity  for  dissolving  the  rock.  It  is  on 
this  account  that  it  is  desirable  to  keep  the  way  reasonably 
free  from  mud.  In  its  dry  state  the  powdered  mineral 
does  not  harm  the  road  on  which  it  rests,  though  if  al- 
lowed to  accumulate  to  a  considerable  depth  the  coating 
adds  to  the  resistance  encountered  by  the  vehicles ;  when 
wet  it  is  an  agent  of  damage  which  needs  to  be  con- 
sidered. 

While  the  chemical  action  of  water  in  bringing  about 
the  decay  of  the  stone  is  important,  its  effect  in  washing 
away  the  protecting  coating  of  dust  is  also  damaging.  On 
grades  of  considerable  declivity  this  effect  is  to  deprive 
the  stone  of  the  continuous  supply  of  cement  which  is  re- 
quired to  keep  it  in  place 5  hence  the  "raveling  out'' 
which  so  often  occurs  on  steep  slopes  or  on  roads  which 
are  too  abruptly  crowned.  We  thus  see  that  it  is  desirable 
to  reduce  the  inclination  of  ways,  not  only  for  the  effect 
on  traction,  but  for  their  better  preservation  as  weU.  We 
see  thus  how  important  it  is  to  keep  the  whole  structure 
of  the  road  from  excessively  steep  inclines.  The  reader 
must  not  suppose,  however,  that  a  perfectly  dry  way  would 
be  desirable.  In  cases  where  Macadam  roads  are  carried 
through  tunnels  we  may  note  that  the  stone  does  not  hold 


METHODS   OF   CONSTRUCTING  ROADS  161 

well  together.  There  is  need  of  occasional  wetting,  which 
may  enable  the  '^  fines  "  to  work  downward  and  come  into  a 
state  where  they  may,  when  dried,  act  as  a  cement.  This 
consideration  obvionsly  throws  some  light  on  the  matter 
of  watering  a  road  to  keep  down  the  dust.  While  this  is 
desirable  in  periods  of  continued  drought,  where  the  road 
shows  signs  of  going  to  pieces,  the  constant  nse  of  the 
method  tends  to  increase  the  rate  of  decay  of  the  stone  by 
softening  it,  so  that  it  readily  gives  way  under  the  blows 
of  the  wheels  and  hoofs. 

In  European  countries,  where  the  climate  is  prevail- 
ingly humid,  the  evident  damage  from  mud  has  led  to  the 
custom  of  scraping  this  dust  away  as  fast  as  it  accumu- 
lates. Such  care  is  much  less  necessary  in  our  drier 
climate,  where  the  mnds  are  apt  to  remove  the  excess  of 
the  powdered  stone  which  is  not  washed  away  by  the  tor- 
rential rains.  Still,  on  roads  having  a  heavy  traffic,  when 
the  wearing  of  the  stone  amounts  to  as  much  as  an  inch 
a  year  this  precaution  may  well  be  adopted.  Wlien  the 
practice  of  scraping  or  sweeping  the  road  is  followed  care 
should  be  taken  to  secure  the  removal  of  the  dust  after  it 
is  heaped  on  the  shoulders  of  the  road ;  otherwise  it  will 
quickly  become  distributed  again  over  the  surface.  In 
many  cases  this  material  is  of  sufficient  value  as  manure 
to  induce  farmers  to  remove  it  at  their  own  cost.  Where 
this  is  not  the  case  it  should  be  so  placed  that  it  cannot 
return  to  the  paved  way  or  to  the  gutters  and  drains  of 
the  road ;  otherwise  it  is  likely  to  do  more  injury  than  if 
it  were  left  to  be  disposed  of  by  the  winds  and  rains. 

The  wearing  of  Macadam  roads  in  this  country  due  to 
violent  rains  is  a  distinct  and  somewhat  peculiar  evil.  It 
leads  often  to  the  removal  of  the  binding  dust  between 
the  top  stones  in  such  a  measure  that  they  become  loosened. 

10* 


162  AMEEICAN  HIGHWAYS 

This  points  to  the  precaution  of  having  the  slopes  so  ar- 
ranged that  the  water  may  be  carried  to  the  gutters  so 
directly  that  it  will  not  have  a  chance  to  gain  the  cutting 
energy  which  it  will  possess  when  it  has  a  speedy  flow. 
On  this  account  it  appears  necessary  to  have  the  side  pitch 
of  the  surface  rather  steeper  than  is  prescribed  in  Euro- 
pean works  on  road-making. 

The  action  of  strong  winds,  in  connection  with  long 
droughts,  which  is  a  common  feature  in  all  parts  of  this 
continent,  often  leads  to  the  excessive  removal  of  the  dust. 
Thus  in  Kentucky,  where  the  southwest  counter-trades 
often  blow  with  great  energy  and  continuance,  the  lime- 
stone roads  are  often  swept  clean  for  weeks  of  all  dust,  so 
that  the  occasional  rains  do  not  provide  for  the  renewal 
of  the  cement  in  the  crevices  between  the  bits  of  stone. 
Watering  in  the  measure  required  to  prevent  this  injury 
would,  in  such  cases,  be  advantageous.  This  process  is, 
however,  costly.  Properly  carried  out,  the  annual  expense 
of  such  treatment  cannot  usuall}^  be  brought  below  seventy- 
five  dollars  per  mile.  The  reckoning  has  to  include,  on 
most  country  roads,  a  provision  in  the  way  of  windmill 
pumps  with  large  tanks  to  contain  a  sufficient  store  of 
water  for  periods  of  calm.  It  is  hkely  to  be  many  years 
before  this  refinement  in  the  care  of  roads  is  generally 
adopted  in  this  country. 

SHAPE   OF  WHEELS 

Although  the  injury  done  by  the  traf&c  on  ordinary 
rural  ways  is  probably  less  than  that  effected  by  the 
weather,  it  is  of  a  more  evitable  nature.  Much  of  it  can 
be  avoided  by  a  proper  care  as  to  the  form  of  the  wheels 
and  horseshoes,  the  loading  of  vehicles,  and  the  path  they 


METHODS  OF  CONSTRUCTING  EOADS  163 

liollow  in  the  road.  These  points  we  will  consider  in 
snccession. 

First,  as  to  the  width  of  the  wheels.  Where  these 
are  small,  i.e.,  of  less  diameter  than,  say,  thirty  inches, 
their  effect  is  to  pnsh  bits  of  loose  stone  before  them, 
particularly  when  the  vehicle  is  heavily  laden,  in  such  a 
manner  that  the  fragments  plow  np  the  road  until  they 
have  worn  out  or  have  glanced  aside.  A  wheel  thirty 
inches  to  three  feet  in  diameter,  or  less,  will  do  this  when 
one  four  feet  across  will  ride  over  the  obstructing  bit, 
crushing  it  or  driving  it  down  into  the  bed.  If  it  were 
possible  (it  is  obviously  not  so)  to  have  wheels  limited  in 
diameter  to  four  feet,  good  roads  would  be  more  easily 
maintained  in  order.  Fortunately  there  is  a  tendency 
toward,  the  general  adoption  of  large-wheeled  vehicles 
wherever  the  roads  are  made  good.  There  are,  indeed, 
several  mechanical  reasons  why  this  should  be  the  case. 
Moreover,  in  this  country,  where  the  carriages  are  as  much 
better  as  the  roads  are  worse  than  those  of  the  Old  World, 
it  is  the  custom  to  avoid  the  road-destroying,  small  fore 
wheels  of  farm-wagons  which  are  so  commonly  used  in 
Europe. 

While  the  diameter  of  wheels  has  been  but  little  con- 
sidered, the  matter  of  width  of  tires  has  been  made  a  sub- 
ject of  much  remark.  There  has,  indeed,  been  no  end  of 
idle  talk  concerning  this  matter,  much  of  it  directed  to  the 
point  that  our  American  wagon-builders  have  shown  a 
lack  of  judgment  in  building  with  narrow  tires,  while  they 
should  provide  their  vehicles  with  broad  treads  such  as  are 
in  use  in  Europe.  The  fact  is  that  in  this,  as  in  many 
other  ways  in  which  our  people  have  departed  from  ancient 
and  old-world  customs,  they  have  been  led  by  wisdom  and 
not  by  folly.     This  will  on  a  little  consideration  be  made 


164  AMERICAN  HIGH  WAYS 

evident.  Where,  as  in  ninety-nine  hundredths  of  the 
mileage  of  American  roads,  there  is  no  definite  pavement 
the  wheels  have  in  muddy  weather  to  descend  into  the 
earth  until  they  find  a  firm  foundation  on  which  to  rest. 
In  so  doing  they  have  to  cleave  sticky  mud  which  often 
has  a  depth  of  a  foot  or  more.  If  these  wheels  were  broad- 
tired  the  spokes  would  also  have  to  be  thick  and  the  fellies 
wide,  so  that  the  aggregate  holding  power  of  the  mud  upon 
the  vehicle  would  be  perhaps  twice  what  it  is  at  present. 
It  is  useless  to  talk  about  the  advantages  of  a  broader 
tread  to  the  wheels  of  our  wagons  until  we  have  a  thor- 
oughly good  system  of  roads  which  they  are  intended  to 
traverse.  Any  laws  looking  to  this  end  would  be  disobeyed 
because  of  private  needs  so  general  that  they  would  amount 
to  a  pubhc  necessity.  When  the  roads  of  a  district  are 
made  good  only  as  to  the  main  lines  of  communication, 
the  side  roads  still  demand  the  peculiar  advantages  afforded 
by  the  narrow  tread.  It  is  thus  only  when  the  good  ways 
are  developed  to  a  complete  system  that  the  people  can  be 
justly  required,  or  even  expected,  to  adopt  the  proposed 
broad  tires. 

While  it  is  clearly  injmious  to  a  road  paved  with  broken 
stone  to  have  very  heavy-burdened  wagons  with  narrow 
tires  pass  over  it,  there  is  no  reason  to  anticipate  that  such 
vehicles  will  continue  to  be  used  when  the  general  conditions 
of  wagoning  are  such  as  will  make  it  practicable  to  use 
wheels  of  broader  tread,  except,  perhaps,  in  cities,  where 
there  may  be  some  advantage  arising  from  narrow-rimmed 
wheels  for  the  reason  that  they  fit  into  the  tramway  tracks. 
The  greater  strength  of  the  wide-framed  wheel,  with  the 
resulting  broad  tire,  is  certain  to  commend  it  to  general 
favor.  We  have  here  a  natural  influence  which  is  likely 
to  prove  far  more  effective  than  any  statute. 


METHODS   OF  CONSTRUCTING  ROADS  165 

The  best  argument  against  the  enactment  of  laws  con- 
cerning broad  tires  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  numerous 
and  long-enforced  English  statutes  on  this  matter  have  of 
late  years  been  abrogated,  a  century  of  experience  having 
shown  that  they  were  difficult  to  administer  and  generally 
disadvantageous.  In  this  country,  where  the  machinery 
for  administering  such  laws  does  not  exist,— where,  indeed, 
a  fit  mechanism  for  their  enforcement  cannot  well  be  con- 
trived without  serious  changes  in  our  police  system,— it 
does  not  seem  desirable  to  enter  on  legislative  endeavors 
which  the  mother-country  has  abandoned.  The  only  fit 
resource  appears  to  be  to  trust  to  the  construction  of  roads 
in  so  solid  a  manner  that  they  will  not  give  way  under 
such  strain  as  unreasonably  narrow  tires  may  bring  upon 
them.  In  fact,  the  additional  tax  on  the  endurance  of  a 
well-constructed  road  which  is  likely  to  be  imposed  by  the 
inadequately  smaU  bearing  surface  provided  by  the  wheels 
is  probably  small.  If  the  road  be  kept  smooth  so  that  the 
load  applies  only  a  steadfast  pressure  and  does  not  deliver 
blows  to  the  stone,  all  but  that  of  very  soft  nature  wiU 
meet  the  strain  without  damage.  When  the  wheels  break 
through  it  in  almost  all  cases  indicates  that  the  bed  has 
been  a,Ilowed  to  wear  to  a  dangerous  state  of  thinness,  or 
that  the  stone  was  not  put  on  under  such  conditions  as 
would  insure  a  proper  bond  to  unite  the  fragments  of 
which  it  is  composed.  In  many  cases  the  damage  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  care  has  not  been  taken  to  secure  a  proper 
foundation  where  the  road  is  laid  upon  clay.  As  before 
noted,  where  clay  beneath  a  road  is  not  kept  perfectly  dry 
the  structure  is  always  in  peril. 

There  is  another  kind  of  violence  which  wheels  do  to  a 
road  that  is  brought  about  by  the  need  of  braking  or, 
what  is  worse,  locking  them  as  a  laden  vehicle  goes  down 


166  AMEBIC  AN  HIGHWAYS 

a  steep  grade.  Either  of  these  means  of  hindering  the 
descent  of  the  vehicle  inflicts  damage  in  proportion  to  the 
extent  to  which  the  free  turning  of  the  wheel  is  resisted 
and  its  movement  converted  into  sliding.  If  the  bond  of 
the  stones  is  exceptionally  firm  the  action  may  be  limited 
to  a  very  rapid  surface  wearing,  probably  some  score  times 
as  great  as  where  the  wheel  is  free.  If,  however,  the  union 
of  the  stones  is  weak,  as  it  always  is  either  in  wet  weather 


Fig.  13.  — Showing  wagon-wheel  sustained  at  sin- 
gle point  of  contact  on  hard,  smooth  surface  of 
compact  Macadam  or  Telford  road. 

or  in  very  long  droughts,  the  effect  is  to  tear  out  the  bits. 
As  in  the  matter  of  narrow  tires,  it  seems  useless  to  seek 
to  remedy  this  evil  by  laws,  and  this  particularly  for  the 
reason  that  where  the  load  is  held  back  by  the  pressure  of 
the  horses  on  the  breeching  the  calks  of  their  shoes  are 
likely  to  do  about  as  much  damage  as  the  checked  or  locked 
wheels.  If  the  grades  are  too  steep  the  road  must  take 
damage  from  the  defect  of  the  plan;  it  matters  little  in 
which  way  it  is  inflicted.     The  remedy  is  to  diminish  the 


METHODS   OF   CONSTRUCTINa  ROADS 


167 


slope  to  the  point  where  the  road  will  not  tend  to  acquire  in 
its  downward  conrse  a  velocit}^  which  needs  to  be  checked 
by  any  considerable  exercise  of  power ;  for  all  the  energy 
thns  nsed  is  directly  applied  to  the  destruction  of  the 
costliest  part  of  the  way. 

The  damage  done  by  the  pressure  of  the  wheels  on  a 
well-built  Macadam  road  is  usually  much  less  than  is  in- 
flicted by  the  shod  feet  of  horses,  especially  where  the  shoes 


Fig.  14.  —Showing  wagon-wheel  pressed  into  the 
surface  of  a  dirt  road,  enlarging  the  area  of  con- 
tact and  impeding  the  forward  movement  of  the 
vehicle. 


are  provided  with  the  usual  calks  at  toes  and  heels.  The 
stress  applied  by  the  tires  is  wholly  downward ;  when  the 
road  has  the  normal  covering  of  dust  this  acts  as  a  cushion 
to  distribute  the  pressure.  If  the  wheel  be  of  considerable 
diameter,  say  four  feet  or  more,  the  area  of  the  work  may 
have  a  length  of  two  or  three  inches  at  any  moment  of  the 
action.  Though  the  time  during  which  this  pressure  is 
accumulated  seems  short,  being,  in  fact,  only  a  small 
fraction  of  a  second,  it  is  long  enough  to  permit  the  elastic 


168  AMEBIC  AN  HIGHWAYS 

mass  to  be  slightly  compressed,  so  that  it  fits  in  a  measure 
to  the  curve  of  the  tire  and  so  sustains  the  weight  without 
rupturing  the  cement  which  unites  the  fragments  of  stone. 
It  is  quite  otherwise  with  the  blows  which  the  feet  of 
draught  animals  apply.  These  strokes  are  delivered  sud- 
denly, so  that  the  bed  has  no  time  to  yield.  If  they  were 
struck  with  the  naked  hoof  the  elasticity  of  that  part  would 
provide  the  needed  spring,  but  the  heavy  shoe  is  like  a  stone 
hammer  at  the  end  of  a  flexible  handle ;  it  is  a  breaking 
tool  of  much  efficiency.  Worst  of  all,  the  calks  act  like 
wedges  to  force  apart  the  stones  and  lift  them  to  the  sur- 
face. This  result  is  greatest  where  the  grades  are  steep. 
In  ascending  or  descending  the  slopes  the  calks  are  driven 
in  and  strained  in  drawing  forward  or  holding  back  the 
loads ;  hence  a  shearing  movement  which  tends  to  pull  out 
the  fragments  of  stone. 

An  inspection  of  a  clean-swept  Macadam  road  which  has 
been  some  time  in  use  will  show  the  dents  which  are  due 
to  the  horses'  feet  and  the  fractures  of  the  stones  effected 
by  those  agents  of  wearing.  Where  these  effects  are  dis- 
tributed evenly  over  the  pavement  it  may  be  observed  that 
the  wheels  tend  to  heal  them  by  pressing  the  materials 
back  into  place ;  but  in  the  center  of  the  road  there  is  a 
space  of  some  width  where  the  wheels  rarely  do  their  work 
and  where  the  hoofs  are  most  effective.  Here  the  action 
of  the  horseshoes  is  often  exceedingly  injurious  ;  the  stone 
is  picked  up  and  beaten  to  dust,  which  blows  away,  so  that 
in  a  short  time  there  may  be  a  deep  foot-rut  down  the 
center  of  the  road.  To  avoid  and  mend  this  kind  of  damage 
taxes  the  skill  of  the  road-master  more  than  does  any 
other  part  of  his  craft. 

The  entire  prevention  of  ruts  is  impossible.  They  are, 
however,  to  be  in  part  guarded  against  by  careful  rolling 


METHODS  OF  CONSTEUCTING  EOADS  169 

of  the  center  of  the  roadway.  Owing  to  the  necessarily 
convex  form  of  this  portion  of  the  construction,  the  roller 
does  not  bear  as  evenly  on  the  surface  as  is  to  be  desired. 
Hence  without  much  care  the  center  of  the  way  is  likely 
to  be  imperfectly  compacted.  Attention  should  be  given 
to  the  work  in  order  that  the  passages  of  the  machine  may 
be  numerous  enough  to  bring  the  materials  to  a  firm  state. 
As  soon  as  ruts  begin  to  appear  they  should  be  repaired. 
Those  formed  by  the  wheels  may  in  most  cases  be  healed 
by  filling  them  with  small  stone  of  the  size  used  just 
before  the  dust  layer  was  applied.  This  material  will  be 
brought  down  by  the  pressure  of  the  tires.  The  foot- 
ruts  are  less  easily  mended.  With  them  the  best  plan, 
where  the  depression  is  still  slight,  is  to  fill  them  in  with 
the  size  of  broken  stone  applied  in  the  uppermost  layer, 
using  the  roller  to  compress  the  mass  as  in  the  original 
work  of  building  the  way.  Where  this  use  of  the  roller 
is  not  conveniently  possible  the  partial  obstruction  of  the 
center  caused  by  the  broken  stone  which  has  been  applied 
will  usually  cause  the  driver,  or  the  horses  of  their  own 
instance,  to  take  to  the  side  of  the  road,  so  that  the  wheels 
serve  to  tread  the  material  into  place.  Where  the  foot-rut 
has  been  neglected  and  has  been  allowed  to  become  deep 
it  may  be  necessary  to  remove  the  rounded  stone  and  dust, 
refilling  the  space  with  fresh  angular  bits.  The  path  then 
needs,  for  its  future  good  service,  to  be  carefully  rolled. 

It  is  the  plan  of  some  road-masters  to  provide  against 
central  wheel-  and  hoof -ruts  by  placing,  from  time  to  time, 
obstructions  in  the  center  of  the  road  so  as  to  force  travel 
on  to  the  sides  of  the  way.  Although  this  is  an  effective 
resource,  it  is  not  to  be  commended  on  a  way  of  ordinary 
width  5  for  the  harm  that  the  vehicles  do  in  passing  one 
another,  being  thus  crowded  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  way. 


170  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

soon  brings  that  relatively  weak  part  into  a  state  requir- 
ing repair.  Moreover,  these  barriers  are  sources  of  danger 
to  those  who  journey  by  night.  The  essential  feature  of 
a  highway  is  to  be  at  all  times  freely  and  safely  passable. 
It  is  therefore  not  fit  to  limit  its  utility  and  safety  in  any 
avoidable  manner. 

ANNUAL  WEARING  OF  ROADS 

Besides  the  special  wearing  of  the  wheel-  and  hoof -ruts 
the  general  surface  of  the  hardened  roadway  is  subjected 
to  an  annual  reduction  of  thickness  throughout  its  whole 
extent.  The  rate  of  this  wear  is  a  result  of  a  complicated 
series  of  interactions  in  which  the  travel  (in  terms  of  hoofs, 
wheels,  and  total  weight),  the  nature  of  the  stone,  and  the 
climate  all  enter.  The  computations  of  Morin,  Codrington, 
and  others,  based  on  carefully  ascertained  data,  have  given 
interesting  results,  which,  however,  are  hardly  applicable 
to  American  conditions,  except  in  a  very  general  manner. 
The  last-named  writer  has  shown  in  tabular  form  the  re- 
sults obtained  in  some  important  tests  made  by  M.  G-raeff 
("Annales  des  Fonts  et  Chaussees,"  vol.  ix.,  1865),  which 
seem  to  prove  that  the  rate  of  wearing  increases  more 
rapidly  than  the  increase  in  traffic ;  the  annual  consump- 
tion of  stone  for  diverse  weights  being  as  follows  .-^ 

1  Thomas  Codrington,  ^'  The  Maintenance  of  Macadamized  Roads," 
2d  ed.  (London,  1892).  See  this  admirable  work  for  many  other  mat- 
ters concerning  the  endurance  of  roads. 

tniu 

Annual  consumption  per  mile 
per  100  tons'  tratfic  per  diem. 

52 
104 
122 
146 
186 


Annual  consumption  in 

cubic  yards  of 
materials  per  mile. 

lily  traffic  in  tons. 

1,378 

724 

1,772 

1,857 

2,264 

2,780 

3,150 

4,615 

5,315 

9,886 

METHODS   OF   CONSTRUCTING   ROADS  171 

It  appears  from  this  table  that  more  than  three  times 
as  much  wear  per  unit  of  weight  took  place  with  the  heavier 
burden  of  traffic  as  with  the  lighter.  This  is  probably  to 
be  explained  by  the  fact  that  with  the  greater  stress  there 
was  no  chance  for  recementation  to  become  effective.  As 
these  tests  were  made  in  a  road  built  of  broken  schist, 
they  probably  give  a  larger  factor  for  the  depreciation  than 
would  be  found  true  in  the  case  of  ways  built  of  less  friable 
and  better  cementing  stone  j  yet  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  in  a  general  way,  but  in  a  less  proportion,  the  increase 
of  traffic  in  practically  aU  instances  heightens  the  wearing 
per  ton  of  weight  passing  over  the  road. 

In  the  case  of  the  road  observed  by  M.  Graeff,  as  above 
noted,  the  wear  under  the  maximum  traffic  was  at  the  rate 
of  two  feet  of  thickness  of  compacted  road  material  per 
annum.  This  may  be  taken  as  a  maximum.  The  minimum 
on  a  well-built  rural  way  formed  of  trap,  where  the  daily 
traffic  averages  one  hundred  "  collars,*'  ^  may  be  reckoned 
at  from  one  fourth  to  one  half  inch  per  year.  Of  this  loss 
a  portion,  varying  in  quantity  with  the  character  of  the 
stone,  will  be  due  to  the  decay  of  the  rock.  If  the  travel 
on  the  road  is  so  light  that  less  than  half  of  an  inch 
of  dust  is  formed  each  year,  there  is  a  chance  that  the 
supply  of  dust  will  be  insufficient  to  provide  for  the  renewal 
of  the  cementing  material  which  is  lost  by  the  action  of 
the  rain  and  wind  in  removing  the  dust  from  between  the 
top  stones,  so  that  the  road  may  "  go  to  pieces."  On  this 
account  a  way  which  has  only  slight  use,  as  on  private 
grounds  or  in  neighborhoods  where  there  is  only  summer 

1  The  term  "collar"  is  used  by  European  writers  to  designate  the 
single  draught  animal.  It  is  a  convenient  addition  to  the  already 
rich  argot  of  the  road-master.  It  may  well  be  adopted  in  this  coun- 
try. 


172  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

travel,  in  most  instances  should,  if  possible,  be  made  of 
other  material  than  broken  stone. 


METHODS   OF    REPAIRING 

If  a  road  could  be  induced  to  wear  evenly  downward 
the  task  of  repairing  would  then  be  limited  to  occasional 
extensive  reconstruction  work ;  but,  whatever  be  the  rate 
of  wear,  the  inevitable  irregularities  in  the  strength  of  the 
various  parts  of  the  construction  will  lead  to  the  formation 
of  cradle-holes  of  varying  areas.  The  aim  of  the  road- 
master  should  be  to  detect  these  as  soon  as  they  begin  to 
form,  so  that  the  destructive  process  may  be  arrested  in 
the  beginning  before  the  cavity  has  been  enlarged  by  the 
blows  given  by  the  wheels  as  they  fall  into  the  depression, 
a  process  which  goes  on  with  accelerated  rapidity  with  the 
increase  in  the  depth  of  the  depression.  Where  the  pit- 
ting is  slight,  say  not  over  an  inch  in  depth,  and  of  small 
area,  say  a  few  inches  across,  the  mending  can  often  be 
done,  especially  where  the  macadam  is  of  a  rather  soft  na- 
ture, by  applying  an  amount  of  finely  broken  stone,— the 
bits  being  about  half  an  inch  in  diameter,— preferably 
when  the  road  is  wet,  the  coating  being  laid  on  so  that  it 
is,  in  the  loose  state,  rather  higher  than  the  adjacent  sur- 
face. The  mass  can  then  be  driven  down  with  a  hand- 
rammer  such  as  pavers  use.  Care  should  be  taken  to 
clear  the  mud  from  the  depression  before  the  stone  is 
placed  in  it. 

A  better  plan  of  repairing,  one  which  should  be  followed 
where  the  depressions  are  already  wide  and  deep,  is  first 
to  clear  away  the  mud  or  dust  5  next  to  pick  up  the  stone 
to  the  depth  of  two  or  three  inches,  placing  the  new  ma- 
terial on  top  of  the  loosened  mass.     The  surface  of  the 


METHODS  OF  CONSTRUCTING  ROADS  173 

mass  should  be  rounded  upward  so  as  to  remove  the  crown 
of  the  pit,  with  a  reckoning  that  it  will  shrink  about  twenty- 
five  per  cent,  in  bulk  when  compressed.  This  may  be 
driven  down  with  the  rammer,  or  the  compacting  may  be 
intrusted  to  the  tread  of  the  wheels;  but  it  is  better  to 
have  the  work  done  with  the  steam-roller,  so  that  the  top 
coating  of  "fines"  may  be  worked  in  and  the  place  be 
brought  into  the  same  condition  as  the  other  parts  of  the 
way.  A  failure  to  attain  this  end  is  likely  to  lead  to  a 
speedy  return  of  the  trouble  at  the  same  point,  so  that  a 
permanent  sore  spot  may  be  formed  in  the  way.  If  the 
area  thus  repaired  is  small  it  is  not  necessary  to  apply  the 
top  coating  of  "  fines,"  as  this  material  will  be  brought  in 
from  the  neighboring  parts  of  the  road. 

For  all  the  directions  which  may  be  given  in  the  matter 
of  road  repairs,  the  result  depends  mainly  on  the  skill  of 
the  road-master  in  contriving  the  work  so  that  the  surface 
of  the  mended  place  may  be  in  the  end  exactly  in  its  proper 
level.  If  higher  or  lower  the  effect  is  only  temporary. 
A  pit  will  form  in  the  old  position  if  it  be  too  low ;  other 
pits  wiU  form  alongside  of  it  if  the  place  be  left  too  high. 
The  ability  to  do  such  work  effectively  depends  upon  nat- 
ural craft  as  well  as  training  in  the  art. 

The  process  of  patching,  at  first  limited  to  small  bits  of 
the  road,  beginning,  it  may  be,  some  three  or  four  years 
after  a  good  piece  of  construction  has  been  turned  over 
for  use,  gradually  involves  larger  areas  until  in  the  course 
of  time,  say  ten  or  fifteen  years  on  a  road  of  average  use, 
the  whole  of  the  way  has  been  gone  over  at  least  once, 
some  parts  of  it  several  times.  At  this  stage  in  the  life 
of  the  way  the  time  has  come  for  "  general  repairs,"  when 
the  pavement  has  to  be  made  over  again  in  a  manner 
which  will  use  the  remains  of  the  paving  material  in  the 
11 


174  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

new  construction.  Before  setting  abont  the  remaking 
of  the  hardened  way  the  need  of  changes  in  materials, 
grades,  water-passages,  underdrains,  width  of  pavement, 
etc.,  should  be  carefully  considered,  as  also,  if  they  have 
to  be  dealt  with,  such  questions  as  location  of  water-  and 
gas-pipes,  street-railways,  and  other  obstructions.  As  the 
road  is  to  be  broken  up  to  its  foundations,  the  task  should 
be  preceded  by  a  careful  revision  of  the  situation,  so  that 
provision  shall  be  made  against  change  of  plan  or  any 
remaking  of  the  way  for  a  long  period  in  the  future. 

If  a  proper  record  has  been  kept  as  to  the  history  of  the 
imperfections  of  the  road  it  will  be  found  that  weak  places 
due  to  bad  under  or  surface  drainage  or  to  excessive  grades 
can  now  be  remedied.  In  anticipation  of  this  need,  it 
may  be  recommended  that  for  any  road  there  should  be  a 
plan  on  the  scale  of  at  least  one  five-thousandth,  so  that 
the  position  of  defective  places  may  be  noted  thereon  for 
service  in  the  time  of  general  repairs.  This  record  should 
be  revised  just  before  the  extended  reconstruction  is  begun. 

In  the  process  of  reconstruction  the  first  step  is  entirely 
to  disrupt  the  pavement  to  the  bottom  of  the  lower  layer 
of  broken  stone.  This  may  be  done  by  means  of  hand- 
picks  ;  it  is  sometimes  accomplished  by  the  use  of  plows, 
but  this  method  is  objectionable  for  the  reason  that  it 
disturbs  the  foundations  and  risks  mingling  the  under  ma- 
terials with  the  broken  stone  in  a  measure  unfitting  the  lat- 
ter for  reuse.  The  best  method  of  accomplishing  the  work 
is  by  means  of  the  steam-roller.  The  drums  or  wheels  of 
this  machine  are  provided  with  holes  into  which  spikes 
may  be  fitted.  When  these  are  in  place  the  effect  of  fre- 
quent passages  over  the  road  is  to  separate  the  bits  from 
one  another,  restoring  them  to  the  state  in  which  they  were 
before  the  mass  was  originally  compacted ;  in  this  condition 


METHODS  OF  CONSTRUCTING  ROADS  175 

they  can  easily  be  separated  by  hand-picks.  When  this 
process  is  effected  with  teeth  of  proper  length  in  the  drums, 
and  with  a  road  which  has  been  maintained  of  tolerably 
even  thickness,  there  will  be  no  considerable  mixing  of  the 
foundation  material  with  the  broken  stone.  If  this  basis 
is  of  gravel,  as  it  should  be  preserved,  what  may  be  mixed 
with  the  stone  will  not  prove  injurious.  If  there  be 
TeKord  pavement  or  cobble  foundation  it  should  not  be 
broken  up. 

After  the  layer  of  broken  stone  has  been  picked  up  it 
should  be  made  even  with  the  same  care  as  when  first  laid 
down.  The  slope  toward  the  sides  should  be  restored ;  the 
mass  should  be  brought  to  the  thickness  designated  in  the 
case  of  original  construction,  if  necessary  by  the  addition 
of  more  broken  stone.  The  mass  is  then  to  be  rolled  in 
the  usual  manner.  The  subsequent  treatment  of  the  road 
is  to  be  conducted  as  advised  for  the  process  of  newly 
building  a  way. 


CHAPTER  IX 

METHODS  OF  ADMINISTRATION  OF  ROADS 

French  method  of  supervising  roads.  English  method.  Other 
European  methods.  Best  system  of  administration  for  Amer- 
ican roads.  Commonwealth  system.  Methods  of  inspection. 
Removal  of  snow.  Need  of  elaborating  methods  of  supervision 
fitted  to  the  conditions  of  this  country 

IT  is  easy  to  prescribe  the  process  by  which  a  road  is  to 
be  kept  in  good  repair,  but  in  practice  it  has  been  in 
all  countries  found  difficult  to  insure  the  proper  systematic 
care  in  the  administration  of  such  work.  In  this  country, 
where  the  social  conditions  do  not  lend  themselves  to  the 
effective  execution  of  any  government  regulations,  the 
task  presents  greater  difficulties  than  elsewhere.  Let  us 
see  what  instruction  can  be  derived  from  the  methods  fol- 
lowed in  the  Old  World,  where  alone  has  the  highway 
system  been  brought  to  a  satisfactory  state. 

FRENCH  METHOD  OF   SUPERVISING  ROADS 

In  France,  where  there  is  the  most  extensive  and  suc- 
cessful system  of  stone  roads,  all  those  of  importance  are 
under  the  control  of  the  Bureau  of  Bridges  and  Roads. 

176 


METHOD  OF  ADMINISTRATION  OF  EOADS         177 

This  bureau  employs  all  the  men,  known  as  cantonniers, 
who  have  to  do  with  the  immediate  work  of  repairing  the 
ways.  To  each  of  these  men  is  allotted  a  section  of  a  way 
which  it  is  supposed  that  with  his  individual  labor  he  may 
be  able  to  watch  over  and  repair.  He  is  expected  to  break 
and  apply  the  stone  needed  in  repairs,  to  attend  to  the 
ditches  and  drains,  to  dress  the  sides  of  the  road  so  that 
they  may  be  always  in  an  orderly  state.  He  provides  his 
own  tools  and  simple  uniform.  Men  of  this,  the  lowest, 
grade  are  required  to  be  on  the  road,  from  May  1  to  Sep- 
tember 1,  from  5  A.  M.  to  7  p.  m.  ;  for  the  rest  of  the  year 
from  sunrise  to  sunset.  They  are  required  to  take  their 
meals  on  the  road,  and  for  this  they  are  allowed  two  hours 
each  day,  except  in  very  hot  weather,  when  they  may  have 
three  hours.  The  average  working  time  is  about  ten  hours. 
For  this  service  the  men  are  paid  about  fifty  cents  per  day. 
They  are  required  to  be  about  their  work  in  all  kinds 
of  weather,  but  are  allowed  to  use  shelters,  which  they 
make  for  themselves.  The  cantonniers  furnish  their  own 
tools. 

Next  above  the  simple  laborer  in  this  corps  comes  the 
chief  cantonnier,  who  has  charge  of  at  least  six  subordi- 
nates. This  chief  also  has  charge  of  a  section  of  road,  but 
one  relatively  short,  in  order  that  he  may  have  time  to 
inspect  the  work  of  his  subordinates  and  advise  them  as 
to  their  duties.  Above  these  petty  chiefs  come  the  officers 
of  the  great  corps  of  the  "  Pouts  et  Chaussees.''  In  addi- 
tion to  the  sketch  of  the  cantonnier  system  as  above  noted, 
it  may  be  said  that  the  force  is  largely  composed  of  dis- 
charged soldiers  who  have  had  a  disciplinary  training. 
They  are  fined  for  any  neglect  of  duty,  and  may  receive 
annual  gratuities  amounting  to  as  much  as  a  month's  pay 
each  year  for  particularly  good  service.  As  a  whole  the 
11* 


178 


AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 


efficiency  of  the  corps  is  excellent.  The  men  work  in  a 
plodding,  pottering  way.  The  product  of  their  labor  is 
probably  not  more  than  two  thirds  of  what  would  be  ob- 
tained by  a  skilful  private  contractor  for  the  same  hours, 
but  it  is  about  as  good  as  would  be  secured  in  public  work 
in  this  country.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that,  notwith- 
standing the  low  price  of  this  labor,  the  annual  cost  of 
maintaining  the  main  or  departmental  roads  of  France 


A  French  national  road. 


was  in  1860  about  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  dollars  per 
mile.  The  care  of  these  ways  was,  however,  of  the  highest 
order,  such  as  we  cannot  hope  to  attain  in  this  country 
for  some  decades  to  come.  It  may  be  said  without  danger 
of  contradiction  that  good  as  the  French  system  clearly  is, 
it  cannot  be  applied  to  a  decentralized  government  such 
as  our  own. 


METHOD  OF  ADMINISTRATION  OF  ROADS         179 


ENGLISH  METHOD 

The  existing  Englisli  metliod  by  its  system  of  local  ad- 
ministration by  connties,  througli  their  county  councils, 
represents  the  result  of  many  experiments  in  the  manage- 
ment of  roads  other  than  those  in  cities.  These  counties 
are,  as  regards  wealth  and  population,  fairly  comparable 
with  our  own  States.  In  area  and  concentration  of  taxable 
property  they  are  not  so,  the  resources  per  square  mile 
being  many  times  what  they  are  in  any  but  a  few  of  our 
communities.  The  plan  of  the  English  system  has  been 
found  in  general  so  successful  that  it  has  been  extended 
to  Scotland  and  Ireland.  The  important  feature  is  the 
mode  in  which  considerable  groups  of  roads  are  committed 
to  the  care  of  local  surveyors,  who  are  endowed  with  much 
authority  and  who  report  directly  to  the  county  board. 
Under  these  surveyors  there  are  foremen  and  ordinary 
laborers  essentially  on  the  plan  of  the  French  cantonniers. 
As  in  most  other  matters  of  local  government  in  Great 
Britain,  there  is  a  considerable  diversity  in  the  details  of 
the  road  administration  in  different  parts  of  the  country, 
but  the  plan  appears  everywhere  to  contemplate  lodging 
the  authority  with  the  surveyor. 

According  to  Codrington  (op.  cit.,  p.  154),  a  surveyor  who 
keeps  a  horse  and  who  has  foremen  under  him  may  be 
expected,  provided  his  field  of  duty  is  compact  so  that  his 
task  does  not  take  him  far  away  from  home,  to  superin- 
tend, as  they  do  in  South  Wales,  from  eighty-six  to  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-five  miles  of  way.  The  impression  left 
by  the  statements  of  the  English  experts  is  that  where 
more  than  about  one  hundred  miles  of  road  are  under  the 
care  of  a  single  inspector,  even  if  he  has  the  help  of  good 


180  AMEEICAN  HIGHWAYS 

foremen^  the  money  loss  from  insufficient  intelligence  in 
the  direction  of  the  work  is  considerable.  It  appears  to 
be  assumed  that  the  ordinary  pay  of  a  surveyor  is  to  be 
about  five  hundred  dollars  per  annum,  provided  he  does 
not  keep  a  horse,  and  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  if 
he  provides  such  means  of  transportation.  At  these  wages 
it  is  estimated  that  the  cost  of  the  supervision  alone  Avill 
be  in  general  from  seven  to  eight  dollars  per  annum  for 
each  mile  of  road.  As  the  pay  of  men  of  the  surveyor  class 
would  in  this  country  have  to  be  about  double  that  which 
they  receive  in  England,  we  may  reckon  the  cost  per  mile 
as  nearly  twice  that  above  given. 

OTHER  EUROPEAN  METHODS 

The  systems  of  control  in  Switzerland  and  Germany  are 
in  general  much  like  those  of  France.  They  are  evidently, 
from  their  centralized  character,  not  fitted  to  guide  the 
people  of  this  country  in  devising  a  plan  for  the  control 
of  their  highways.  They  all,  however,  exhibit  certain 
common  features  which  are  evidently  the  result  of  long 
experience  in  road  management,  and  w^hich  it  is  well  to 
bear  in  mind.  They  more  or  less  adequately  provide  for 
the  permanent  employment  of  laborers  who  are  to  have 
charge  of  sections  of  the  way  through  the  year.  In  some 
states,  particularly  in  France,  these  men  are  allowed  to 
be  away  from  their  work  for  a  short  time  in  the  harvest 
season.  This  is  done  in  order  that  these  employees  may 
be  able  to  help  in  the  critical  period  of  farming.  ALL  these 
plans  contemplate  the  employment  of  foremen  and  the 
supervision  of  the  gangs  by  competent  surveyors,  who 
devote  their  time  to  this  kind  of  work.  The  differences 
relate  to  the  control  of  the  men  of  the  surveyor's  grade, 


METHOD  OF  ADMINISTRATION  OF  ROADS         181 

which  in  most  countries  is  provided  for  by  an  elaborate 
administrative  system,  which  is  managed  by  the  national 
government.  In  this  regard  the  British  system  is  evidently 
the  one  that  may  best  be  copied  in  this  country.  It  pro- 
vides for  the  actual  management  of  the  ways  without  in- 
volving the  centralization  of  authority  which  is  repugnant 
to  all  people  of  the  English  stock. 

BEST  METHOD   OF   ADMINISTRATION   FOR  AMERICAN  ROADS 

Judging  by  the  experience  of  other  countries,  and  such 
little  as  has  been  had  in  our  own,  the  best  system  of  road 
control  for  our  needs  and  conditions  is  one  organized  on 
the  unit  of  the  State  government.  A  lesser  unit,  such  as 
is  afforded  by  the  counties,  is  inadvisable  for  the  reason 
that  it  is  too  small  for  effective  administration.  In  the 
several  States  there  should  be  a  board  having  full  author- 
ity in  all  that  relates  to  those  ways  which  are  to  be  re- 
garded as  of  general  importance.  It  seems  best  that  this 
body  should  be  a  general  Board  of  Public  Works,  and  as 
such  charged  with  all  the  engineering  business  of  the 
commonwealth,  and  this  for  the  reason  that  there  is  an 
intimate  relation  between  the  public  roads  and  all  the 
other  constructive  undertakings  of  a  State.  There  is,  how- 
ever, at  present  a  strong  tendency  to  morsehze  the  ad- 
ministration of  our  State  governments,  placing  each  definite 
task  in  the  hands  of  commissions.  Assuming  that  there 
is  to  be  a  highway  commission  in  charge  of  the  road  busi- 
ness of  each  State,  it  should  at  least  have  its  field  of  duty 
include  bridges  and  street-railways,  telegraph  and  tele- 
phone lines,  as  weU  as  the  ordinary  ways.  It  should  have 
the  right  to  determine  where  street-railways  should  be 
allowed  a  place  on  roads,  and  also  where  and  under  what 


182  AMEEICAN  HIGHWAYS 

conditions  pipes  should  be  placed  therein.  This  extension 
of  authority  is  clearly  necessary  in  order  that  the  main 
object  of  the  board  may  be  attained. 

COMMONWEALTH   SYSTEM 

At  present  the  roads  in  the  several  States  are,  with  rare 
exceptions,  held  under  local  or  corporate  control  by  the 
counties,  towns,  or  turnpike  companies.  The  method  by 
which  these  ways  are  to  pass  into  the  hands  of  commis- 
sioners representing  the  commonwealth  should  be  carefully 
provided  for  in  the  laws  organizing  such  boards.  As  far 
as  the  public  or  non-toll  roads  are  concerned,  the  best  way 
of  passing  them  into  the  hands  of  the  commissioners  seems 
to  be  that  adopted  in  Massachusetts,  where  the  motion 
originates  in  the  local  authorities.  To  have  the  State 
board  determine  the  matter  altogether  at  its  own  instance 
would,  on  many  accounts,  be  undesirable.  As  regards  the 
turnpikes,  laws  for  their  exappropriation  are  quite  within 
the  limits  of  the  powers  lodged  in  the  States,  due  compen- 
sation being  made  therefor.  Purchased  on  the  basis  of 
their  value  as  sources  of  revenue  to  their  stock-holders, 
the  actual  expense  of  the  transaction  would  be  nothing, 
for  the  result  would  be  merety  the  transfer  of  values  from 
private  to  public  account.  There  would  be,  however, 
actual  profit  to  the  people  arising  from  the  saving  in  the 
cost  of  gathering  the  dues  from  those  who  use  the  roads. 
It  may  be  noted  that  the  aggregate  pay  of  the  toll-gate 
keepers  of  this  country  probably  amounts  to  some  million 
dollars  a  year. 

As  fast  as  a  State  commission  becomes  possessed  of  ways 
they  should  be  rebuilt  in  whatever  manner  the  conditions 
demand,  but  in  all  cases  the  aim  should  be  to  secure  en- 


METHOD  OF  ADMINISTRATION   OF  ROADS         183 

during  constructions,  so  that  the  expense  of  maintaining 
the  ways  may  be  reduced  to  the  least  possible  cost  per 
mile,  for  the  reason  that  in  this  country  the  cost  of  main- 
tenance is  likely  to  be  the  main  hindrance  to  the  motives 
that  lead  to  the  extension  of  good  roads. 

METHODS   OP   INSPECTION 

The  inspection  of  roads  has  of  late  become  much  easier 
because  of  the  invention  of  the  bicycle.  This  instrument 
not  only  provides  swift  transportation,  but  by  its  motion 
it  indicates  to  the  rider  in  a  very  effective  manner  the  con- 
dition of  the  way  it  traverses.  By  its  use  the  surveyors  of 
highways  may  be  able  to  do  their  work  more  swiftly  than 
of  old,  keeping  charge  of  larger  numbers  of  men  and  more 
miles  of  way.  With  this  or  other  means  of  travel  the  rule 
should  be  that  the  whole  of  each  road  should  be  traversed 
on  the  average  once  each  month  from  the  time  it  is  opened 
to  the  fu'st  reconstruction,  and  when  it  begins  to  show 
signs  of  wearing  as  often  as  every  ten  days.  Experience 
with  the  Massachusetts  State  roads  indicates  that  for  the 
first  year  or  two  a  well-built  road,  subjected  only  to  the 
stress  of  agricultural  traffic,  is  not  likely  to  require  any 
repairs ;  yet  even  on  these  well-built  ways  roadmen  could 
advantageously  be  kept  employed,  to  the  number  of  one 
man  to  each  five  to  ten  miles  of  way,  in  seeding  or  sodding 
the  slopes,  or  in  caring  for  the  trees.  When  the  time 
comes  for  partial  repairs  it  is  likely  that  one  man  will  be 
required  on  the  average  for  each  four  miles  of  way. 

An  alternative  to  the  steadfast  employment  of  section 
men  is  an  arrangement  with  the  town  or  city  authorities 
whereby  they  shall,  on  notice  from  the  surveyor  of  the 
board,  proceed  to  make,  at  the  cost  of  the  State,  such  repairs 


184  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

as  may  be  required.  This  arrangement  wonld  have  the 
advantage  that  it  would  serve  to  train  the  local  superin- 
tendents of  streets  in  the  task  of  keeping  ways  in  high 
condition,  with  the  probable  effect  that  their  work  on  the 
local  roads  under  their  charge  would  be  much  improved. 
In  other  words,  the  same  educational  intent  which  has  led 
to  the  plan  of  making  contracts  for  the  construction  of 
the  Massachusetts  State  roads  with  the  authorities  of  the 
towns  in  which  they  lie  would  be  extended  to  the  task  of 
maintenance.  This  method  is  well  worth  trial,  even  if  the 
cost  be  somewhat  greater  than  that  which  would  be  in- 
curred by  having  the  whole  matter  directly  in  the  hands 
of  the  State  agents,  for  the  reason  that  the  most  important 
problem  now  before  the  friends  of  good  roads  is  as  to  the 
means  by  which  a  knowledge  of  the  methods  of  building 
roads  can  be  disseminated  among  our  people. 

So  far  in  this  country,  even  where  good  roads  have  been 
constructed,  there  has  been,  save  in  rare  and  local  instances, 
no  system  in  the  method  of  keeping  them  in  good  condi- 
tion. They  have  been  allowed  to  fall  out  of  repair  and  to 
attain  a  state  of  unserviceableness  before  they  have  received 
any  attention.  Where  the  way  has  come  to  be  nearly 
useless  it  has  been  reconstructed.  This  method  of  action 
is  as  reasonable  in  the  case  of  a  road  as  it  would  be  in  the 
case  of  a  house.  We  all  know  what  to  think  of  a  man  who 
will  allow  his  house  to  rot  down  because  of  the  lack  of  a 
water-tight  roof,  and  who  prefers  to  repair  the  edifice  with 
anew  building ;  but  we  have  not  learned  to  see  that  like 
condemnation  fits  in  the  case  of  a  highway.  To  clear  the 
minds  of  men  concerning  this  matter  is  worth  much  in 
the  way  of  experiments  such  as  are  here  recommended 
in  the  project  for  the  repairing  of  State  roads. 

As  soon  as  the  stage  of  local  repairs  is  attained  the 


METHOD  OF  ADMINISTRATION  OF  ROADS         185 

question  arises  as  to  the  source  of  supply  of  broken  stone 
to  be  used  on  tlie  roads.  Where  there  is  a  crusher  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  the  materials  can  easily  be  had,  but 
where,  as  in  many  cases,  the  road  has  been  built  by  a 
crusher  which  was  temporarily  established  it  may  not  be 
easy  to  obtain  them.  In  this  case  resort  may  frequently 
be  had  to  hand-breaking.  Care  should  in  these  cases  be 
taken  that  the  stone  used  in  repairs  is  of  the  same  quality 
as  that  of  the  original  construction.  Any  considerable 
difference  in  the  nature  of  the  materials,  as  regards  resis- 
tance to  wear,  will  be  sure  to  bring  trouble  to  the  road- 
master. 

REMOVAL  OF   SNOW 

In  caring  for  roads  in  the  northern  part  of  the  United 
States  much  of  the  expense  goes  to  clearing  away  snow. 
This  matter  is  of  such  importance  that  in  many  districts 
it  needs  to  be  considered  in  the  original  project  of  the  road, 
so  that  cuts  in  positions  where  the  snow  is  likely  to  drift 
into  them  may  be  avoided.  So  difficult  has  it  seemed 
to  the  Massachusetts  Highway  Commission  adequately  to 
care  for  the  road  in  this  respect  by  State  employees  that 
the  board  has  asked  the  legislature  to  require  the  cities  and 
towns  in  whose  limits  the  obstructed  sections  may  be  to 
do  this  part  of  the  service  of  their  own  instance  and  at 
their  own  cost.  In  the  northern  part  of  this  country,  where 
the  people  are  accustomed  to  use  sleighs  or  sleds,  it  is  not 
demanded  that  the  snow  be  removed  from  the  way,  as  it  is 
the  custom  to  do  in  France  and  other  regions  where  snow 
is  exceptional,  but  only  to  "  break  out "  the  drifts.  This 
is  usually  done  by  the  use  of  wooden  shovels  or  by  snow- 
plows. 


186  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 


NEED   OF  ELABORATING  METHODS 

In  closing  these  notes  on  the  methods  of  caring  for  roads, 
it  may  be  said  that  it  will  not  do  to  trust  much  to  foreign 
experience  for  guidance.  We  must  work  out  our  own 
methods— perhaps  several,  fitted  to  local  conditions— of 
doing  the  work  in  a  manner  to  meet  the  needs.  In  this 
task  we  must,  however,  bear  in  mind  the  fact  that  the 
means  employed  must  include  skiKul  supervision  of  the 
ways,  experience  of  the?  same  order  as  guided  in  their  con- 
struction, and  an  immediate  remedying  of  every  defect  as 
soon  as  it  is  discovered.  Each  method  proposed  may  fairly 
be  criticised  as  regards  the  extent  to  which  it  provides  for 
these  needs.  It  may  furthermore  be  noted  that  in  this  as 
in  other  innovative  work  it  is  desirable  to  do  as  little  vio- 
lence to  existing  interests  and  prejudices  as  is  possible. 
Therefore,  so  far  as  the  supervision  by  the  State  board  can 
be  made  to  control  the  work  of  existing  local  authorities, 
that  course  will  be  better  than  the  alternative  method  of 
having  an  administration  of  these  roads  entirely  separated 
from  that  which  cares  for  the  local  ways.  There  are  evi- 
dent difficulties  in  this  combined  action  of  State  and  town 
authorities  which  may  in  the  end  make  it  impossible  to 
continue  the  relation,  but  the  advantages  are  so  great  that 
the  experiment  should  be  essayed. 

On  endeavoring  to  combine  local  and  State  action  in 
the  management  of  country  roads,  care  needs  to  be  taken 
to  adapt  the  method  to  the  needs  of  the  commonwealth  in 
which  it  is  to  be  applied.  Thus,  in  Massachusetts,  where 
the  area  is  small,  the  conditions  for  administration  favor- 
able, and  the  people  accustomed  to  the  interference  of  State 
boards  in  their  local  affairs,  it  is  easy  for  a  commission  to 


METHOD  OF  ADMINISTRATION  OF  EOADS         187 

deal  with  the  well-organized  town  authorities.  In  the 
case  of  States  of  large  area  and  relatively  weak  local 
governments,  the  task  is  one  of  much  greater  difficulty ;  in 
such  conditions  it  may  be  best  not  to  undertake  the  man- 
agement of  the  whole  field  altogether  by  one  board,  but 
rather  to  di\'ide  it  into  two  or  more  districts.  Where,  as 
is  likely  to  be  the  case,  it  seems  best  to  have  all  the  State 
highway  work  controlled  by  a  single  commission,  the  roads 
of  the  several  districts  may  well  be  managed  by  separate 
engineers,  the  work  being  supervised  by  one  of  its 
members. 


r^^ 


Breaking  stone  for  a  German  country  road. 


CHAPTER  X 

MACHINES  USED  IN  EOAD-MAKING 

Road  machines.  Plows  and  wheeled  scrapers.  Use  of  explosives. 
Stone-breakers.  Permanent  and  movable  plants.  Eoad-rollers. 
Weight  of  power-rollers.  Watering-carts.  Municipal  owner- 
ship of  road-building  machinery 

ALTHOUGH  the  variety  of  modern  inventions  for  use 
J\.  in  the  construction  and  repair  of  highways  is  not 
great,  at  least  as  compared  with  the  number  relating  to 
other  tasks  of  similar  economic  vakie,  the  importance  of 
these  machines  is  such  as  to  call  for  some  account  of 
them  in  this  work.  First  of  all,  we  may  note  the  group 
of  somewhat  complicated  engines  which  are  designed  to 
save  labor  in  repairing  ordinary  "  dirt  roads,"  i.e.,  those 
which  have  no  kind  of  pavement  whatever,  but  which  trust 
to  compacted  soil  or  to  the  hard-pan  which  underlies  it  for 
the  support  of  the  wheels  and  hoofs. 

ROAD    MACHINES 

The  road  machine  is,  with  the  exception  of  the  crusher, 
the  only  contribution  of  importance  which  American  in- 
ventors have  made  to  the  apparatus  used  in  highway  work. 

188 


MACHINES  USED  IN  ROAD-MAKING  189 

There  is  a  considerable  variety  in  the  form  of  this  machine 
and  in  the  details  of  its  structure ;  but  in  general  it  consists 
of  a  set  of  scrapers,  in  part  designed  to  level  off  the  irreg- 
ularities of  the  ruts,  but  in  larger  measure  to  scrape  out 
the  contents  of  the  side  ditches  and  to  cast  this  matter 
into  the  middle  of  the  road.  Although  there  is  a  super- 
ficial look  of  repaii'  given  to  a  highway  by  the  action  of 
this  apparatus  which  to  the  untrained  eye  is  very  attrac- 
tive, it  is  rare  indeed  that  anything  more  valuable  than 
mere  show  is  obtained  from  it.  The  obliteration  of  the 
ruts  on  a  dirt  road  is  a  temporary  convenience.  The  de- 
pressions, being  filled  with  soft  materials,  are  likely  to  be 
remade  by  the  next  passing  of  laden  vehicles  during  wet 
weather,  so  that  the  wheels  have  once  more  to  cut  and 
clear  their  way  down  to  the  hard-pan  level  which  they 
found  or  formed,  which  task  they  will  in  all  cases  speed- 
ily do. 

The  plan  of  sweeping  the  contents  of  the  ditches  into 
the  middle  of  the  road,  so  essential  in  these  engines,  is 
utterly  irrational  and  mischievous.  All  the  matter  which 
normally  finds  its  way  from  the  road  to  the  gutters 
is  a  good  riddance.  It  usually  consists  of  clay  mixed 
with  horse  droppings,  and  is  to  a  great  extent  mingled 
with  decayed  leaves.  When  returned  to  the  road  and 
wetted  it  becomes  mere  mud,  which  fortunately  may  work 
back  to  the  gutters  in  the  next  heavy  rains.  The  only 
thing  that  can  be  said  in  favor  of  the  ordinary  road 
machine  is  that  it  provides  cheap  though  temporary  ditches 
which  serve  for  a  short  time  to  drain  the  water  from  be- 
neath the  road-bed.  The  relief,  it  is  true,  is  of  brief  dura- 
tion. These  scrapings  of  the  ditches  also  serve  to  remove 
the  growth  of  vegetation  which  may  have  obstructed  the 
flow  of  the  water  toward  the  natural  watercourses.   These 

12 


190  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

results  should  be  accomplished,  as  they  may  be  at  no  great 
expense,  by  the  use  of  ordinary  tools,  the  materials  from 
the  ditches  being  cast  away  from  the  road  and  not  upon  it. 

PLOWS  AND  WHEELED   SCRAPERS 

Coming  now  to  the  really  serviceable  engines  which  are 
employed  in  road-making,  we  may  note  very  briefly  the 
combined  use  of  the  plow  and  wheeled  scraper,  which  in 
their  modern  methods  of  employ  nent  have  done  so  much 
to  cheapen  the  excavation  work  in  this  and  other  construc- 
tions. Plows  for  this  service  need  generally  to  be  made 
of  peculiar  strength,  arranged  to  break  up  the  firmest 
earth  which  can  be  moved  at  rll  by  such  instruments.  It 
is  likely  that  in  time  steam-power  will  be  used  for  this 
service,  being  applied  either  by  means  of  cables  or  by 
traction  engines.  An  engine  of  this  description  might 
easily  be  devised  which  would  serve,  when  laden  with  water 
or  stone,  as  a  road-roller. 

No  considerable  task  of  grading  can  advantageously  be 
undertaken  without  the  use  of  the  wheeled  scraper,  a  con- 
trivance by  which  earth  lifted  into  a  scoop  by  the  use  of 
the  ordinary  sliding  scraper  can  be  elevated  from  the 
ground,  so  that  it  is  no  longer  dragged  over  the  surface, 
but  is  borne  on  wheels.  With  earth  broken  up  by  the  plow 
or  by  dynamite,  excavation  can  be  done  by  means  of  this 
instrument  at  a  small  portion  of  the  cost  incurred  in  the 
slower  method  of  pick  and  shovel. 

USE   OF   EXPLOSIVES 

When  the  cuts  are  to  be  made  in  what  is  ordinarily 
termed  hard-pan,  i.e.,  very  firm  clay  or  other  material  of 


MACHINES  USED  IN  KOAD-MAKING  193 

the  same  consistency,  too  compact  to  admit  of  being  broken 
up  by  the  plow,  the  use  of  small  charges  of  dynamite  is 
exceedingly  helpful  in  cheapening  the  expense  of  the  work. 
Usually  this  explosive  should  be  applied  in  half-pound  car- 
tridges in  drilled  holes  considerably  longer  than  the  tubes. 
If  the  conditions  admit,  these  charges  should  be  placed  a 
few  feet  back  from  a  working  face  of  the  cut,  at  intervals, 
and  with  a  depth  below  the  surface  which  experience  with 
the  particular  ground  may  indicate  as  most  suitable  5  the 
firing  being  done  by  a  small  electrical  battery  such  as  is 
obtained  at  a  small  cost  from  merchants  who  furnish  con- 
tractors' supplies.  This  method  of  exploding  the  dynamite 
insures  the  simultaneous  action  of  all  the  charges ;  more- 
over, it  diminishes  the  danger  arising  from  the  use  of  such 
powder.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  dynamite  should 
be  applied  by  those  persons  only  who  have  had  a  training 
in  its  use.  With  fit  precautions  this  agent  can  be  made  to 
serve  the  needs  with  very  little  danger  to  the  operators.  It 
should,  however,  be  altogether  in  the  charge  of  an  experi- 
enced person,  who  should  see  to  the  storage  of  the  mate- 
rial, place  and  give  the  charges,  and  make  sure  that  all  the 
cartridges  have  been  exploded  at  each  time  of  firing.  One 
of  the  most  serious  kinds  of  accident  arising  from  this 
dangerous  substance  comes  about  from  overlooking  an 
unexploded  charge,  which  may  be  fired  by  some  chance 
blow  of  a  pick  in  the  hands  of  a  workman. 

The  modern  system  of  carrying  materials  by  means  of 
wire  ropes  on  which  buckets  are  hung  is  occasionally  ap- 
plicable in  removing  excavated  materials  to  points  where 
they  a.re  to  be  used  in  filling  or  are  to  be  cast  aside.  The 
conditions  of  such  application  are,  however,  so  rare  in 
highway  work  that  this  process  demands  no  more  than  a 
mention. 


194  AMEEICAN  HIGHWAYS 


STONE-BREAKERS 


The  most  important  piece  of  road  machinery  now  in  use 
is  the  stone-breaker  or  crusher.  Its  application  to  the 
service  of  road-building  has  not  only  greatly  cheapened 
the  expense  of  breaking  stone,  but  has  insured  that  the 
work  may  be  done  under  conditions  which  permit  the  bits 
to  be  assorted  according  to  size,  a  feature  which,  as  before 
noted,  is  of  very  great  advantage.  It  has  enabled  the  road- 
master  to  build  ways  at  much  less  expense  in  terms  of 
labor  than  he  could  with  hand-broken  stone,  and  these  ways 
are  free  from  the  evils  which  are  due  to  the  ill  assortment 
of  sizes  in  the  layers  of  the  road. 

As  regards  the  method  of  their  action,  there  are  two 
principal  types  of  the  crushers  now  in  use.  In  the  older  of 
these,  which  follows  on  the  plan  laid  down  in  the  original 
invention  of  Blake,  the  work  of  breaking  is  done  by  means 
of  very  stout  jaw-plates  which  open  and  close  after  the 
manner  of  nut-crackers,  so  that  they  may  take  in  large 
masses  of  stone,  which,  by  successive  fracturings  as  they 
descend  into  the  jaws,  are  crushed  to  the  size  which  for 
its  maximum  is  determined  by  the  distance  apart  of  the 
plates  at  the  lower  margins  of  the  jaws.  Another  method 
of  effecting  the  crushing  is  by  means  of  an  arrangement 
somewhat  like  a  large  steel  mortar,  in  which  a  massive 
pestle  swings  around  so  as  to  bring  a  pinching  pressure 
to  bear  in  a  circular  movement  against  the  rim.  There  is 
probably  not  much  difference  in  the  efficiency  of  these  two 
types  of  machines.  Though  varying  in  appearance,  they 
involve  the  same  principles  of  action.  As  yet  the  com- 
parison between  them  has  not  been  sufficiently  complete 
to  determine  their  relative   economic  value.     Into  this 


MACHINES  USED  IN  ROAD-MAKING  195 

determination  there  enter  many  considerations  besides  that 
of  daily  product  with  a  given  expenditure  of  power. 
Among  these  may  be  noted  the  cost  of  repairs  and  the 
expense  of  moving  the  crusher  plant  from  point  to  point 
and  installing  it  in  its  successive  positions. 

More  important  than  the  particular  method  by  which 
the  power  is  applied  to  the  stone-breaking  is  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  apparatus  so  that  it  may  do  its  work  cheaply 
and  effectively.  The  plant  should  be  fiu-nished  with  rotary 
screens  so  placed  as  to  bring  about  a  proper  sizing  of 
the  product.  This  product,  according  to  sizes,  should  go 
to  bins  or  pockets  so  arranged  as  to  discharge  dii-ectly  into 
the  carts  or  cars  which  are  to  convey  it  to  its  destination. 
These  bins  should  be  of  such  dimensions  that  they  will 
hold  all  the  product  of  the  crusher  during  the  interval 
when  the  removal  cannot  be  effected.  There  should  also 
be  carriers  for  the  bits  which  pass  through  the  crushing 
jaws  and  are  yet  so  large  that  they  are  rejected  by  the 
sizing-screens,  so  arranged  that  these  bits  may  be  re- 
turned to  the  breaking  apparatus.  Where  the  stone  yields 
an  excess  of  "  fines/'  as  is  often  the  case,  it  is  also  desirable 
to  have  some  automatic  system  of  conveying  this  material 
to  a  waste  heap.  By  these  seK-acting  contrivances  the 
cost  of  moving  the  broken  stone  by  hand  is  avoided.  The 
importance  of  this  is  seen  when  we  remember  that  the 
expense  of  moving  such  material  by  hand  is  likely  to  be 
from  eight  to  twelve  cents  per  ton,  so  that  one  such  car- 
riage may  amount  to  about  one  tenth  of  the  cost  of  the 
product  of  the  crusher. 

It  is  also  very  important  to  have  the  stone-breaking 
plant  so  arranged  that  the  wagons  which  bring  the  stone 
from  the  quarry  or  from  the  fields  should  have  ready 
access  to  the  dumping-platform  beside  the  crusher,  and 

12* 


196  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

that  the  conveyances  which  take  it  away  should  have  a 
like  access  to  the  mouths  of  the  bins.  All  these  labor- 
saving  arrangements  require  a  very  careful  adjustment 
of  the  plant  with  reference  to  the  station  which  it  occupies. 
It  is,  moreover,  necessary  that  there  shall  be  good  wheel- 
ways  maintained  about  the  machine,  which  is  often  not 
an  easy  matter  to  effect.  In  fact,  when  a  crusher  is  moved 
from  place  to  place  along  a  road,  each  "set-up''  being 
made,  say,  at  intervals  of  two  miles,  it  is  practically  im- 
possible in  most  instances  to  obtain  even  a  tolerable  ad- 
justment of  the  needs  of  water-supply,  cheap  stone  for 
crushing,  and  ready  access  to  the  plant. 

PERMANENT  AND  MOVABLE   PLANTS 

The  foregoing  considerations  bring  us  to  the  point  where 
we  must  briefly  discuss  the  relative  advantages  of  perma- 
nently established  crushing  plants  so  placed  that  they  may 
be  immediately  adjacent  to  quarries  of  well-selected  stone, 
as  compared  with  plants  which  are  intended  to  be  moved 
about  in  the  manner  above  indicated.  In  favor  of  the 
fix^d  plant  at  the  source  of  stone-supply  it  may  be  said 
that  it  has  the  advantage  of  yielding  a  uniform  high-grade 
product  from  an  establishment  which  can  be  elaborately 
organized  for  the  work.  The  quarries  may  be  operated 
by  means  of  steam-cranes  and  drills,  and  the  stone  con- 
veyed to  the  breaker  by  rail  carriages.  The  breaker,  not 
being  limited  in  weight,  as  is  the  case  with  movable  plants, 
may  be  of  larger  size  of  jaws  and  more  massive  structure, 
thus  avoiding,  on  the  one  hand,  the  cost  of  sledging  the 
stone  so  as  to  make  it  fit  the  machine,  and,  on  the  other, 
the  excessive  expense  of  repairs.  Where  the  stone  is 
delivered  to  railway  cars  or  to  boats  there  is  no  question 


MACHINES  USED  IN  EOAD-MAKING  197 

as  to  the  state  of  the  ways  it  has  to  traverse,  as  is  the  case 
with  the  movable  apparatus  at  each  of  the  roadside  stations. 
Against  these  advantages  is  to  be  set  the  cost  of  carriage 
of  the  material  from  the  permanent  establishment  to  the 
point  where  it  is  to  be  used.  This  is  in  all  cases  expensive, 
as  it  involves  railway  or  boat  transportation  and  usually 
at  least  one  unloading  from  the  conveyances  by  hand. 

Nevertheless  in  a  region  which  is  much  intersected  with 
rail  or  water  ways  there  are  likel}^  to  be  many  roads  which 
can  be  more  conveniently  supplied  with  broken  stone  from 
fixed  crushers  than  from  those  which  are  moved  from 
station  to  station.  In  Massachusetts  the  average  distance 
of  railway  stations  from  existing  permanent  stone-breaking 
establishments  is  not  far  from  forty  miles.  The  actual 
cost  of  railway  carriage  per  ton  over  this  distance  is  prob- 
ably not  more  than  half  a  cent  per  mile,  but  in  no  case  is  it 
to  be  reckoned  at  more  than  two  and  a  half  times  that  sum. 
It  is,  however,  to  be  noted  that,  with  one  exception,  none  of 
the  railways  in  Massachusetts  will  move  stone  for  any 
distance,  however  short,  for  less  than  fifty  cents  a  ton  per 
mile.  If  the  railway  authorities  could  be  brought  to 
see  that  every  wagon  road  over  which  freight  is  brought 
to  them  is  in  effect  an  extension  of  their  own  lines  and 
therefore  deserving  of  their  help,  we  might  hope  that  they 
might  adopt  the  plan  of  carrying  road  materials  at  cost. 
If  this  were  done  the  advantage  of  permanent  crushers  in 
the  New  England  States  would  be  so  great  that  it  is  doubt- 
ful if  the  movable  forms  of  such  apparatus  would  be  used, 
except  where  the  wagon  distance  from  a  railway  station  to 
the  point  where  the  broken  stone  had  to  be  used  exceeded 
three  miles. 

Much  attention  has  been  directed  to  making  crushers 
more  movable  than  they  are  at  present,  so  that  the  cost, 


198  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

on  the  average  under  existing  conditions  of  from  one  to 
two  hundred  dollars,  incurred  in  moving  the  machinery 
over  intervals  of,  say,  two  miles,  may  be  lessened.  There 
are,  however,  serious  hindrances  in  the  way  of  success  in 
this  endeavor,  for  if  the  machinery  is  made  lighter  it  is 
necessarily  frailer,  the  costs  of  repairs  are  greater,  and  the 
labor-saving  devices  prove  less  effective.  There  would 
probably  be  no  serious  mechanical  difficulty  encountered 
in  placing  the  crusher  itseK  on  wheels,  so  that  its  weight 
could  be  moved  from  point  to  point  as  easily  as  any  other 
wagon  with  a  load  of,  say,  five  tons  upon  it.  But  this 
apparatus  alone  would  produce  unsized  stone,  most  objec- 
tionable material  to  use  on  a  road,  and  it  would  need  to 
have  the  rough  stone  and  water  drawn  to  it  at  a  cost  which 
would  be  likely  quite  to  offset  the  apparent  advantage  of 
the  arrangement.  It  therefore  seems,  in  the  present  state 
of  the  art,  much  the  best  to  adhere  to  the  existing  plan 
of  setting  up  a  substantial  crusher  upon  its  subsidiary 
apparatus  at  convenient  intervals,  usually  about  two  miles 
apart  where  field  or  quarry  stone  may  be  obtained  as  well 
as  water,  and  hauling  the  product  to  the  point  where  the 
material  is  to  be  placed  on  the  road.  No  account  need  be 
taken  of  the  wearing  of  the  road  which  will  be  brought 
about  by  the  wagons  conveying  the  stone  which  pass  over 
it.  Experience  shows  that  this  action  at  the  time  when 
the  road  is  building  not  only  does  no  harm,  but  it  actually 
benefits  the  work,  provided  the  teams  be  made  to  use  all 
parts  of  the  hardened  way. 

In  selecting  a  crusher  attention  should  be  paid  to  the 
size  of  the  stone  which  can  be  fed  into  its  jaws.  The 
smaller  this  size  the  more  the  work  with  the  sledge  in  the 
preliminary  breaking  of  the  stone  will  be  required.  If  the 
opening  be  of  the  smaller  gages  the  cost  of  this  sledge- 


MACHINES  USED  IN  ROAD-MAKINa  199 

work  may  rise  to  twenty  cents  or  more  per  ton.  A  differ- 
ence of  an  inch  in  the  diameter  of  the  stone  which  can  be 
taken  into  the  jaws  makes  a  notable  reduction  in  this  ele- 
ment of  cost.  To  determine  the  needed  size  of  a  crusher 
requires  a  careful  study  of  the  average  diameter  of  the  field 
stone,  or  of  that  of  the  masses  of  rock  which  are  broken 
from  a  quarry  under  the  action  of  the  blast. 

It  is  a  matter  of  much  importance  to  have  the  available 
product  of  the  crusher  amount  on  the  average  to  about  one 
hundred  tons  per  day,  this  being  the  quantity  which  can 
be  conveniently  treated  by  an  ordinary  roller.  Moreover, 
the  operating  expenses  of  the  machinery  are  but  little 
greater  with  this  amount  of  production  than  they  would 
be  with  one  half  the  above-indicated  product.  It  is  weU 
to  have  a  distinct  contract  with  those  who  furnish  the 
machine  that  it  shall  be  able  to  maintain  this  rate  of 
breaking.  To  maintain  a  uniform  rate  of  production 
spare  parts  of  those  elements  of  the  mechanism  which  are 
likely  to  become  broken  should  be  kept  in  stock.  These 
parts  are  likely  often  to  give  way  in  the  exceeding  strains 
to  which  they  are  subjected,  so  that  in  the  end  there  is  but 
little  expense  incurred  by  making  this  provision.  Speed 
in  repairing  saves  much,  for  when  the  crusher  is  broken 
the  roller  is  necessarily  idle  and  the  teams  without  work. 
It  is  indeed  true  economy  to  keep  duphcates  of  every  ele- 
ment in  the  machine  which  cannot  be  readily  repaii-ed  by 
an  ordinary  mechanic.  It  would  in  any  case  be  better  to 
have  the  whole  apparatus  in  duplicate  and  ready  for  action 
rather  than  encounter  the  delays  which  happen  when,  in 
case  of  breakage,  resort  must  be  had  to  machine-shops,  it 
may  be,  hundreds  of  miles  away. 


200  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 


ROAD-ROLLERS 


Even  more  important  than  the  crusher  with  its  sizing- 
drums^  which  serve  to  divide  the  stone  into  the  grades 
feef  ore  mentioned,  is  the  roller  which  has  of  late  years  come 
into  use  in  the  construction  of  high-grade  Macadam  roads. 
In  the  early  stages  of  the  art  of  building  roads  of  broken 
stone  it  was  necessarily  the  custom  to  trust  the  compact- 
ing of  the  mass  to  the  treading  of  wheels  and  hoofs.  In 
the  course  of  time  these  instruments  wiU  weU  drive  the 
stone  together,  forming  enough  dust  in  the  process  to 
bind  the  mass.  The  process  is  slow  and  in  two  important 
respects  costly.  Before  the  stone  is  compacted  the  tax  on 
the  draught  animals  is  so  great  that  the  road  is  likely  to  be 
less  useful  than  an  ordinary  earth  way.  This  impeded  state 
of  the  way  is  apt  to  last,  when  the  traffic  is  not  great,  for 
some  months.  During  the  period  when  the  road  is  "  com- 
ing down  "  the  stones  are  driven  about  by  the  wheels  and 
hoofs  in  such  a  manner  that  they  often  become  very  much 
worn.  They  in  all  cases  lose  the  sharp  angles  which  are 
so  useful  in  holding  them  together  when  they  are  promptly 
settled  into  their  destined  bed  places  as  by  the  use  of  the 
roller.  The  loss  of  bulk  which  takes  place  in  this  process 
has  not  been  determined,  but  it  probably  amounts  in  some 
cases,  especially  where  limestone  is  used,  to  as  much  as 
one  fifth  of  the  mass  of  broken  stone  which  is  placed  on 
the  road.  The  above-noted  primitive  method  of  manage- 
ment may  still  be  observed  on  the  roads  built  of  broken 
limestone  in  Kentucky,  and  in  other  parts  of  this  country 
where  the  ways  are  in  the  hands  of  rural  corporations  who 
have  their  profits  from  the  toll-gates,  and  whose  adminis- 
tration is  as  medieval  as  the  spirit  of  their  charters. 


MACHINES  USED   IN  EOAD-MAKING  201 

Observing  that  the  wheels  served  to  "  bring  down  "  the 
road,  it  was  natural  to  seek  the  same  result  by  the  use  of 
iron  rollers.  These  were  at  first  made  on  the  pattern  of 
the  ancient  wooden  tool  nsed  in  breaking  the  clods  of  the 
fields.  It  was  soon  found  desirable  to  construct  the  roller 
of  two  or  more  independently  moving  sections  5  this  change 
finally  led  to  the  invention  of  the  disk-roller,  made  of  many 
separate,  closely  adjacent  wheels,  each  with  a  certain  free 
play  on  the  axis  upon  which  it  revolved.  It  was  also  found 
advantageous  to  provide  means  by  which  the  weight  of  the 
machine  could  be  increased  when  the  way  became  partly 
smoothed,  so  that  it  could  be  more  easily  drawn  in  the  first 
passages  over  the  rough  surface.  This  additional  weight 
was  obtained  by  filling  boxes  in  the  frame  with  stone.  The 
horse-roUer  was  exceedingly  useful.  It  changed  the  prac- 
tice in  construction  in  an  important  way.  Where  the 
treading  action  was  left  to  the  vehicles  it  was  the  custom, 
the  best  which  under  the  conditions  could  have  been 
adopted,  to  allow  the  broken  stone  to  work  down  the  lower 
layers  of  the  road,  forming  in  a  costly  way  a  rude  foun- 
dation for  the  superstructure  of  the  way.  Into  the  depres- 
sions of  this  bottom  layer  there  was  then  filled  stone  in 
the  manner  followed  in  the  process  of  repairs.  The  iron 
roUer  drawn  by  horses  enabled  the  road-master  to  fit  the 
structure  for  final  use  at  once.  The  difficulty  with  these 
machines  was  twofold.  They  were  not  heavy  enough  to 
compress  the  stone  to  the  needed  extent,  so  that  the  bed 
lacked  the  solidity  we  now  can  give  it.  The  feet  of  the 
numerous  horses  required  to  draw  the  machine  puUed  out 
the  stones  to  such  an  extent,  especially  in  ascending  slopes, 
that  the  work  was  slowly  accomplished  and  was  attended 
by  much  rounding  of  the  broken  stone. 

In  aU  modern  work  which  is  done  in  the  best  manner  of 


202  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

the  highwayman's  (we  use  this  excellent  word  in  a  bet- 
tered modern  sense)  art,  the  steam-power  roller  has  taken 
the  place  of  that  drawn  by  horses.  The  advantage  of  the 
modern  instrument  in  all  except  the  purchase  price  is  very 
great,  and  the  cost  of  compressing  a  given  amount  of  stone 
by  it  is  so  much  less  than  that  incurred  by  the  use  of  the 
ancient  instrument  that  the  price  should  in  most  cases  not 
be  reckoned.  There  are  no  sufficient  data  for  estimating 
with  accuracy  the  relative  costs  of  building  Macadam  roads 
with  or  without  power-rollers,  but  they  are  probably  at 
least  two  to  one  in  favor  of  the  steam-machine.  In  this 
regard  the  firmer  road-bed  given  by  the  modern  engine 
would  alone  warrant  its  use. 

In  its  existing  form  the  steam-roUer  appears  to  have 
attained  very  nearly  to  its  possible  development.  Its  main 
defect  in  the  usual  pattern  consists  in  the  small  size  of  the 
drum-like  wheels  which  are  placed  in  front  of  the  middle 
of  the  frame.  Because  of  their  limited  diameter  these 
wheels,  after  the  manner  of  the  small  fore  wheels  of  many 
wagons,  tend  to  push  the  stones  in  front  of  them  rather 
than  to  tread  them  down.  It  would  be  desirable  to  con- 
trive a  model  for  this  engine  which  would  permit  of  an 
equal  amount  of  weight  on  four  wheels,  each  of  like  and 
large  diameter,  the  larger  the  better,  so  that  the  effect 
would  be  the  same  in  all  parts  of  the  path  of  the  ma- 
chine. 

It  would  also  be  a  decided  advantage  if  the  steam-engines 
of  the  roller  could  be  replaced  by  some  form  of  hot-air 
motor.  At  present  the  inconvenience  of  furnishing  these 
machines  with  water  is  considerable,  and,  as  the  weight 
of  the  apparatus  is  not  objectionable,  there  is  no  evident 
obstacle  to  the  use  of  this  means  of  applying  the  energy 
obtained  from  the  fuel. 


MACHINES  USED  IN  ROAD-MAEING  203 


WEIGHT  OP  POWER-ROLLERS 

There  lias  been  much  discussion  as  to  the  most  suitable 
weight  to  be  given  to  rollers.  The  first  experience  seemed 
to  indicate  that  this  should  be  not  less  than  about  twenty 
tons.  It  is  still  open  to  debate  whether  for  the  hardest 
kind  of  stone,  such  as  the  firmest  trap,  it  is  not  the  better 
for  treatment  with  a  machine  of  this  order ;  but  for  mate- 
rials of  average  resistance,  and  particularly  for  the  softer 
kinds  of  stone,  the  pressure  which  this  size  of  roller  applies 
is  clearly  excessive.  The  broken  stone  is  evidently  sub- 
jected to  a  further  breaking,  a  process  which  is  very 
undesirable.  Moreover,  where  the  material  is  suddenly 
jammed  down  without  much  movement,  the  junction  of 
dust  between  the  adjacent  faces  of  the  bits  does  not  take 
place  in  sufiicient  amount  to  effect  the  needed  cementation. 
A  compact  mass  is  formed,  but  the  material  to  bind  the 
bits  together  is  lacking.  Furthermore,  a  roller  of  this 
weight  tries  the  foundations  over  which  it  moves.  It  is 
very  difficult  to  find  bridges  strong  enough  to  sustain  with 
safety  the  passage  of  the  heavier  roUers,  and  thus  their 
movements  from  one  piece  of  work  to  another  are  re- 
stricted. 

There  is  at  present  a  tendency  to  diminish  the  weight 
of  rollers.  Few  are  made  of  greater  weight  than  fifteen 
tons.  Many  now  in  service  are  but  twelve  tons.  Those 
of  ten  tons'  weight  are  likely  to  come  into  use.  As  the 
weight  of  the  roUer  is  diminished  the  time  required  will 
have  to  be  the  longer  because  of  the  increased  number  of 
passages  which  the  machine  has  to  make  in  order  to  do  a 
given  amount  of  work.  Therefore  there  is  a  point  beyond 
which  the  reduction  of  weight  will  be  inadvisable.     This 


204  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

minimum  limit  is  probably  about  fifteen  tons  for  use  on 
the  harder  traps  and  twelve  tons  on  the  softer  or  more 
brittle  materials,  such  as  ordinary  field  stone  and  limestone, 
or  the  cherts.  The  last-named  group  of  rocks,  because  of 
the  ease  with  which  the  fragments  are  fractured,  are  likely 
to  be  ground  to  powder  by  the  heavier  forms  of  rollers. 
It  would  be  interesting  to  try  the  experiment  of  construct- 
ing a  roller  after  the  fashion  of  a  traction  engine,  having 
a  minimum  weight  of,  say,  seven  tons,  with  arrangements 
so  that  it  could  be  loaded  with  metal  bars  or  stone  up  to 
a  maximum  of  twelve  tons.  In  its  lighter  form  this  ma- 
chine might  be  used  to  draw  the  heavy  plows  used  in 
grading  the  road,  and  in  some  instances,  perhaps,  to  draw 
the  wagons  containing  the  broken  stone  from  the  crusher 
to  the  point  where  the  construction  is  going  on.  In  its 
unloaded  state  it  would  also  serve  to  roU  the  stone  used 
in  repairing  the  depressions  in  the  way,  in  which  task  it 
is  undesirable  to  have  the  stone  compacted  by  the  heavier 
weight  applied  to  the  material.  A  roller  of  this  light 
weight  would  be  able  to  traverse  ordinary  roads  and 
bridges,  in  going  from  one  piece  of  work  to  another,  more 
speedily  and  with  much  less  risk  than  one  of  double  the 
weight.  If  it  were  found  best  to  give  the  increased  weight 
by  means  of  iron  or  lead,  a  wagon  drawn  by  the  traction 
engine  would  serve  for  the  conveyance  of  the  material  from 
place  to  place. 

Although  the  power-roUer  greatly  facilitates  the  process 
of  building  roads  where  the  pavement  is  formed  of  broken 
stone,  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  no  disadvantages  are 
to  be  found  in  its  use.  Those  who  have  carefully  watched 
the  effect  of  this  machine  may  have  noticed  that,  however 
perfectly  the  stone  may  have  been  pressed  down  so  as  to 
form  a  solid-looking  bed,  the  bits  are  likely  to  ''pick  up" 


MACHINES  USED  IN  ROAD-MAKING  207 

under  the  action  of  the  wheels  and  hoofs,  so  that  the  road, 
especially  if  dry  weather  follows  its  construction,  appears 
to  be  going  to  pieces.  After  a  time,  however,  the  wheels 
serve  to  draw  the  fragments  together  so  that  the  union 
becomes  fii-mer.  It  is  indeed  a  mistake  to  suppose  that 
the  process  of  adjusting  the  broken  stones  to  one  another 
is  complete  when  the  work  of  the  roller  is  done.  At  that 
stage  of  the  construction  the  pieces  have  been  forced  into 
a  preliminary  and  partial  adjustment  5  the  action  is  com- 
pleted when  the  pressure  from  the  wheels  of  the  carriages 
and  the  blows  from  the  horses'  feet  have  pushed  the  stones 
this  way  and  that  until  they  are  well  fitted  to  one  another. 

It  seems  a  worthy  task  for  our  inventors  to  contrive  some 
form  of  roller  which  will  combine  the  immediate  smooth- 
ing effect  which  is  now  attained  with  the  result  which,  as 
above  noted,  is  brought  about  by  the  action  of  the  ordinary 
use  of  the  way.  It  seems  likely  that  the  end  might  be 
attained  by  corrugating  the  surface  of  the  drums  or  broad 
wheels  of  the  machine,  so  that  they  would  combine  a 
shearing  movement  with  the  simple  downward  pressure 
which  they  now  apply. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  some  combination  of  roUer 
and  crusher  might  be  de^dsed  which  should  be  so  con- 
structed that  one  engine  and  boiler  might  serve  as  a  source 
of  power  for  both  instruments.  The  criticism  on  this 
suggestion  made  by  my  colleague,  Mr.  W.  E.  McChntock, 
engineer  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Highway  Commis- 
sion, shows  clearly  that  the  project  offers  no  advantages. 
This  criticism  is  in  effect  that  the  plan  proposes  to  use 
the  high-grade,  costly  engine  of  the  locomotive  type, 
which  drives  the  roller,  to  do  work  which  can  be  better 
accomplished  by  a  much  cheaper  engine  at  the  crusher. 
Moreover,  it  may  be  said  that  any  system  of  working 


208  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

which  involves  the  crushing  at  one  time  and  rolling  at 
another  time  would  necessarily  lead  to  two  or  more  han- 
dlings of  the  broken  stone  by  means  of  shovels,  a  process 
which  would  cause  an  expense  of  twenty  cents  or  more 
on  the  product  of  the  crusher. 

WATERING-CARTS 

There  remains  to  be  noted  the  apparently  simple  device 
of  the  watering-cart  which  is  used  in  watering  the  broken 
stone  at  the  stage  of  the  construction  where  the  ^^ fines" 
are  placed  on  the  surface  to  be  rolled  into  the  bed.  It  is 
advisable  that  this  machine  should  be  something  better 
than  the  rude  contrivance  which  is  often  made  to  serve 
the  purpose.  In  the  first  place,  the  tank  should  be  as 
large  as  two  horses  can  easily  draw  over  the  grades  which 
have  to  be  passed.  It  should  be  mounted  on  a  carriage 
with  broad  treadwheels  of  considerable  diameter.  The 
tires  should  not  be  less  than  five  inches  in  width;  they 
should  be  rounded  at  the  edges.  This  arrangement  is  the 
more  necessary  for  the  reason  that  the  load  has  often  to 
pass  over  soft  ground  as  weU  as  over  pavement  which  is 
imperfectly  consolidated.  The  weight  of  the  vehicle  often 
exceeds  four  tons,  which  pressure  on  the  lower  layer  of 
macadam  may  serve  to  make  distinct  ruts.  The  discharge 
of  the  water  should  be  controllable  so  that  it  may  be  sent 
forth  from  either  half  of  the  spray-pipes ;  the  exit  should 
be  as  a  spray,  and  not  as  a  broad,  splashing  sheet,  which 
is  likely  to  pour  forth  so  much  that  the  dust  may  be 
washed  out.  It  is  essential  to  water  the  road  for  rolling 
in  a  much  more  complete  manner  as  a  preliminary  to  roll- 
ing than  where,  as  in  the  ordinary  use  of  the  watering-cart, 
the  aim  is  to  dampen  the  dust.    Enough  water  needs  to  be 


MACHINES  USED  IN  ROAD-MAKING  209 

applied  to  afford  a  surplus  beyond  what  is  required  to  con- 
vert the  dust  into  mud.  It  Is  necessary  to  wash  the  dust 
down  into  the  crevices.  These  objects  will  best  be  attained, 
not  by  one  profuse  discharge  of  water,  but  by  two  or  tlu-ee 
movements  of  the  cart  over  the  same  area. 

Where  the  care  of  the  road  is  of  a  high  order,  the  ^^  fines  " 
worn  from  the  road  should  from  time  to  time  be  removed, 
no  more  being  allowed  to  rest  upon  the  surface  than  is 
needed  to  furnish  the  cementing  material  which  should  be 
continually  allowed  to  work  down  between  the  crevices  of 
the  broken  stone.  In  practice  the  choice  is  to  remove  this 
surplus  of  ground  rock  in  the  state  of  dust  or  in  that  of 
mud,  i.e.,  by  sweeping  or  by  scraping.  On  the  whole,  the 
preference  may  be  given  to  sweeping,  for  the  reason  that 
the  weight  of  the  material  to  be  removed  is  least  in  the  dry 
state,  and  the  wearing  action  of  brushes  of  any  form  is 
rather  less  than  that  of  scraping  tools.  The  European 
method,  seldom  employed  in  this  country,  is  to  sweep  with 
brush-brooms  5  here  the  rotary  horse-power  sweeper  is 
generally  employed.  There  is  considerable  diversity  in 
the  pattern  of  these  machines.  All  those  employed  seem 
to  be  moderately  effective.  Hand-scrapers  of  the  best  form 
have  the  edge  made  of  india-rubber,  which  is  less  apt  to 
pull  out  stones  than  wood  or  metal  edges.  The  horse- 
power scrapers  are  best  arranged  so  that  a  number  of 
distinct  blades  operate  separately,  though  in  the  same 
time,  so  that  they  adjust  themselves  to  the  irregularities 
of  the  road. 

Although  the  variety  of  machines  which  have  been  con- 
trived to  cheapen  or  better  the  processes  of  making  or 
caring  for  roads  is  not  great,  they  meet  the  needs  of  the 
art  in  a  tolerably  effective  way.  The  difficulty  is  that  they 
are,  at  least  as  regards  the  most  important,  so  costly,  as 

13 


210  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

regards  both  the  purchase  price  and  the  expense  of  opera- 
tion, that  they  are  often  beyond  the  means  of  small  muni- 
cipalities. Stone-breaking  plants  properly  arranged  with 
screens  and  bins  may  be  reckoned  as  costing  from  $1600  to 
$2700 ;  rollers  from  $2200  to  $3500  5  serviceable  sprinkling- 
carts  from  $325  to  $400  5  so  that  an  outfit  for  road-building, 
including  only  the  indispensable  apparatus,  is  likely  to  cost 
from  $4125  to  $6600.  It  is  necessary  also  to  reckon  that 
a  competent  engineer  is  needed  for  the  crushing  machinery 
and  another  for  the  roller.  Such  men,  if  well  trained,  are 
dear  5  they  are  dearer  yet  if  untrained ;  their  labor  should 
be  worth  not  less  than  three  dollars  per  day.  The  cost  for 
repairs  and  depreciation  of  machines  of  this  description 
used  in  the  best  modern  practice  is,  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  days  of  service  each  year,  quite  large. 

MUNICIPAL   OWNERSHIP  OF   ROAD-BUILDING  MACHINERY 

The  question  as  to  the  most  advantageous  method  of 
obtaining  possession  of  road-building  machinery,  whether 
by  hiring  it  for  each  particular  service  or  by  purchasing 
it  outright,  is  often  asked  by  municipal  authorities.  This 
is  not  an  easy  inquiry  to  answer.  In  general  it  may  be 
said  that  where  the  assessed  value  of  a  town  on  the  usual 
basis  of  estimation  amounts  to  as  much  as  one  million 
dollars,  and  where  the  roads  which  should  be  built  of 
broken  stone  exceed  twenty-five  miles  in  length,  it  is  most 
advantageous  for  the  community  to  own  a  complete  out- 
fit for  road-making.  Where,  however,  the  valuation  is 
less  than  that  designated,  it  is,  perhaps,  in  most  cases 
better  to  have  the  work  done  by  contractors  who  own  the 
machines.  Such  men  are  becoming  plenty  in  the  richer 
parts  of  this  country  5  they  may  be  expected,  because  of 


MACHINES  USED  IN  EOAD-MAKING  211 

the  greater  cheapness  of  contract  work,  to  accomplish 
constructions  at  but  little,  if  anything,  more  than  they  will 
cost  if  done  by  day's  labor  employed  by  town  ofdcers.  The 
distinct  advantage  arising  from  the  possession  of  road- 
bnilding  apparatus  is  found  in  the  inducement  which  it 
gives  to  do  work  each  year,  so  that  the  community  is  likely 
to  go  much  further  and  faster  in  road-building  than  where 
it  acts  through  occasional  contracts. 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  apparatus  for  road-making 
is  apt  to  suffer  much  depreciation  due  to  careless  exposure 
to  the  action  of  the  weather,  especially  during  the  long 
winter  season  when  it  is  not  in  use.  This  use  should  al- 
ways be  discontinued  during  the  time  when  the  ground  is 
likely  to  be  frozen.  In  the  Northern  States  of  this  country 
the  fit  time  for  road-building  is  from  May  1  to  November 
1,  or  but  half  the  year.  In  the  winter  season  the  machines 
should  be  carefully  housed ;  even  the  crusher,  or  at  least 
all  the  working  parts  of  it,  should  be  protected  from  the 
weather.  Such  care  will  much  prolong  the  time  of  service 
of  these  instruments. 

Where  individual  communities  are  not  rich  enough  to 
own  a  set  of  road-building  machines,  several  lying  adjacent 
to  one  another  may  well  cooperate  in  the  undertaking.  It 
may  be  estimated  that  with  due  preparation  a  mile  of  road, 
after  grading,  can  be  built  in  six  weeks,  making  due  al- 
lowance for  the  time  required  for  the  necessary  moving 
of  the  plant.  Four  cooperating  towns  owning  the  ma- 
chinery in  common  could  each  build  one  mile  of  road  every 
year.  In  this  manner  small  places  could  have  the  advan- 
tage of  using  the  road-building  plant  without  the  undue 
expense  involved  in  its  pui'chase  and  maintenance. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE   COST    OF   EOAD-BUILDING- SIDEWALKS-PARAPETS 
-CITY  STEEETS 

Cost  of  Massaclmsetts  State  roads.  Cost  of  gravel  roads.  Sidewalks. 
Guard-rails  and  parapets.  The  pavements  of  city  streets.  Prin- 
cipal varieties  of  pavement.  Difficulties  arising  from  tramways. 
Classification  of  streets  as  regards  traffic 

THE  costs  of  road-making  and  repairing  have,  unfor- 
tunately, been  very  inadequately  determined.  These 
data  have  not  been  gathered  for  this  country.  The  results 
of  European  studies  are  not  applicable  to  this  part  of  the 
world,  for  the  reason  that  the  rates  of  wages  and  the 
efficiency  of  labor  are  not  the  same  in  diverse  parts  of  the 
world.  Moreover,  the  greater  part  of  the  reckonings  were 
made  before  the  power  stone-breakers  and  other  labor- 
saving  devices  came  into  use.  On  this  account  the  follow- 
ing statements  concerning  the  cost  of  making  gravel  and 
macadam  ways  should  be  taken  as  rough  estimates  which 
will  serve  no  more  than  to  give  an  approximate  idea  of 
the  expense  of  such  undertakings. 

In  most  cases  the  expenses  of  building  a  road  may  be 
divided  into  two  principal  groups :  those  chargeable  to  the 
preparation  of  the  road-bed,  such  as  grading,  drains,  cul- 
verts, and  bridges,  the  cost  of  which  may  vary  indefinitely ; 
and  those  to  be  reckoned  as  pertaining  to  the  hardened 

212 


COST  OF  EOAD-BUILDING  213 

portion  of  the  way.  This  latter  group  of  costs  can  usually 
be  clearly  reckoned.  In  an  appendix  will  be  found  a  table 
extracted  from  the  annual  report  of  the  Massachusetts 
Highway  Commission  for  1895,  which  indicates  the  cost 
of  various  items  in  road-building.  The  original  publica- 
tion gives  the  statement  for  expenses  for  a  much  greater 
number  of  items  than  are  here  included.  A  selection  has 
been  made  of  those  elements  of  expense  which  are  most 
indicative  as  to  the  matter  of  cost. 

As  before  remarked,  the  Massachusetts  commission  has 
followed  the  plan  of  taking  the  worst  portions  of  those 
roads  which  were  the  most  important  and  the  most  ill 
conditioned  of  the  ways  in  each  district.  This  policy  has 
naturally  resulted  in  making  the  average  expense  per  mile 
of  construction  considerably  greater,  perhaps  one  third 
to  one  half  more  than  would  have  been  incurred  if  the 
selection  had  represented  the  average  condition  of  the 
ways  in  the  commonwealth  which  are  naturally  to  be 
classed  as  State  roads.  Yet,  as  a  similar  policy  should  be 
followed  in  all  such  work,  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  suppose 
that  the  average*  cost  of  the  work  done  by  the  commission 
is  about  that  which  will,  under  like  conditions,  be  at  the 
outset  incurred  in  building  first-class  macadamized  ways 
in  any  part  of  this  country. 

COST   OF   ]VIASSACHUSETTS   STATE    ROADS 

The  average  cost  of  the  ways  already  built  by  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Highway  Commission,  including  various  in- 
cidental expenses  connected  with  the  administration  of  the 
work  and  also  certain  charges  for  seeding  down  slopes, 
tree-planting,  watering-troughs,  etc.,  is  about  nine  thou- 
sand dollars  per  mile.     The  range  in  cost  is  from  three 

13* 


214  AMEEICAN  HIGHWAYS 

thousand  in  tlie  case  of  a  very  well-built  gravel  road  to 
about  twenty  thousand  dollars  in  the  case  of  each  of  two 
macadamized  ways  where  the  grades  or  foundations  pre- 
sented abnormal  difficulties  which  led  to  great  expense. 

The  cost  of  the  hardened  pavement  has  varied  greatly, 
but  at  nothing  like  the  rate  of  the  foundation  work.  The 
variety  in  expense,  as  will  be  noted  in  the  tables  given  in 
an  appendix,  has  been  due  principally  to  the  range  in  the 
cost  of  the  broken  stone  itself.  Where  the  material  was 
readily  accessible  field  stone  has  been  used.  The  cost  of 
this  work  has,  in  cases,  been  less  than  one  half  that  in- 
curred by  the  use  of  imported  material.  The  average  cost 
of  this  broken  stone  in  place  in  the  pavement  has  been  not 
far  from  a  dollar  and  a  half  per  ton  where  the  material 
was  obtained  from  the  fields,  and  two  dollars  where  it  was 
taken  from  distant  ledges.  The  greater  part  of  this  im- 
ported rock  was  trap.  All  of  it  was  brought  from  per- 
manently established  crushers.  In  practically  all  cases  it 
was  subjected  to  the  costs  of  rail  or  water  transportation. 

The  variation  in  width,  and  other  conditions  of  the 
hardened  way  which  exist  on  these  roads,  make  it  im- 
possible to  give  any  accurate  statement  as  to  the  average 
cost  of  the  macadamized  portion.  An  inspection,  of  the 
results  shows,  however,  that  this  cost  is  not  far  from  five 
thousand  dollars  per  mile,  including  such  Telford  founda- 
tions as  are  likely  to  be  required  on  a  total  length  of,  say, 
fifty  miles  of  way.  With  a  thorough  organization  of  the 
business,  such  as  is  always  possible  in  work  which  is  con- 
tinued for  a  number  of  years,  it  may  be  possible  to  cheapen 
the  cost  of  this  portion  of  the  work  to  the  amount  of  about 
one  fifth  of  the  above-named  sum,  but  at  the  present  price 
of  labor  and  materials  it  will  probably  require  very  good 
management  to  attain  this  end.     In  the  conditions  which 


?  > 


s   o 


g   > 


CD        ^ 


COST  OF  EOAD-BUILDINa  217 

prevail  in  New  England  it  must  be  reckoned  that  the  main 
rural  ways  of  communication  will  require  an  average 
expenditure  of  from  seven  to  nine  thousand  dollars  per 
mile  to  bring  them  into  thoroughly  good  and  serviceable 
condition.  This  sum  will  not  include  the  cost  of  the 
greater  bridges,  say  those  with  more  than  twenty  feet  of 
waterway,  nor  the  expense  of  tree-planting,  watering- 
troughs,  or  other  accessories  of  the  construction. 

It  will  be  noted  that  these  estimates  of  cost  are  much 
above  those  which  are  stated  to  have  been  incurred  in 
other  parts  of  the  country  in  building  macadamized  roads. 
Reckonings  have  been  given,  which  are  claimed  to  be  based 
on  practical  experience,  which  elsewhere  show  these  costs 
to  be  as  low  as  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  per  mile,  some, 
indeed,  at  the  preposterous  price  of  nine  hundred  dollars 
per  mile.  The  answer  to  this  criticism  as  to  the  costs  of 
Massachusetts  roads,  which  are  about  the  same  whether 
built  by  the  State  commission  or  by  municipalities  on  their 
own  account,  is  that  the  cheaper  roads  are  so  poorly  built 
that  they  are  in  the  end  the  more  expensive.  It  is  quite 
possible,  by  spreading  rubble-stone  upon  a  road  with  no 
proper  care  to  the  foundations  or  to  drainage,  bringing 
these  stones  to  something  like  a  level  by  means  of  ham- 
merS;  and  then  placing  a  layer  of  two  or  three  inches  of 
unsized  stone  from  a  crusher  upon  the  surface,  to  make  a 
way  which  has  a  width  of,  say,  twelve  feet  which  will  not 
cost,  under  favorable  conditions,  more  than  two  thousand 
dollars  per  mile ;  but  in  a  short  time  such  a  road  will  wear 
out.  Its  life  is  not  likely  to  be  for  more  than  three  or  four 
years,  and  the  fii'st  mending  will  require  "  general  repairs  '^ 
at  which  no  part  of  the  material  used  in  the  way  may  be 
found  serviceable.  On  the  other  hand,  the  properly  built 
way  wiLL  be  hkely,  with  the  same  amount  of  use,  to  wear, 


218  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

with  local  and  little  costly  mending,  for  fifteen  years.  It 
may,  indeed,  require  nothing  more  than  trifling  care  for 
the  first  five  years  of  its  service.  When  the  original  thick- 
ness has  worn  down  to  a  coating  of,  say,  fonr  inches  in 
depth,  this  can  be  picked  up  and  reincorporated  in  the  new 
pavement.  Under  these  conditions  the  dearer  construction 
may  in  the  end  prove  to  be  so  much  more  economical  than 
the  cheaper  that  it  would  be  folly  not  to  make  use  of  it. 
Taking  account  of  the  difference  in  the  quality  of  the  two 
kinds  of  roads,  of  the  expense  of  repairs  and  reconstruc- 
tions, and  the  embarrassment  of  traffic  arising  from  the 
rebuildings,  computation  shows  that  a  way  costing  in  the 
first  instance  two  thousand  dollars  per  mile  may  prove, 
principal  and  interest  reckoned,  far  more  expensive  than 
if  it  had  been  built  in  an  enduring  manner  at  the  outset 
at  a  cost  of,  say,  nine  thousand  dollars  per  mile.  A  private 
person  may,  under  certain  conditions,  find  a  profit  in 
building  such  temporary  ways,  but  the  essential  difference 
between  an  individual  life  and  that  of  a  community  is  that 
the  latter  must  reckon  on  an  indefinite  term  of  action. 


COST   OF   GRAVEL  ROADS 

Where  gravel  of  good  quality  for  road-building  can  be 
found  near  the  road,  the  first  cost  of  a  hardened  way,  so 
far  as  the  pavement  is  concerned,  need  not  exceed  one  half, 
and  may  not  amount  to  one  fourth,  that  required  for  a 
road  made  of  broken  stone.  This  lessened  cost  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  the  expense  of  breaking,  rolling,  and  water- 
ing is  spared.  Moreover,  the  distance  to  which  the  mate- 
rial has  to  be  hauled  is  often  less.  It  is,  however,  to  be 
noted  that  graveled  ways  are  certain  to  prove  somewhat 
more  troublesome  in  regard  to  repairs,  and  are  likely  in 


COST   OF   ROAD-BUILDINa  219 

a  term  of  years  to  be  more  costly  to  keep  in  order  than 
those  which  are  macadamized.  Nevertheless,  as  before 
remarked,  in  determining  as  to  the  manner  in  which  a 
country  road  is  to  be  improved,  care  should  be  taken  to 
ascertain  whether  the  conditions  do  not  admit  of  its  being 
covered  with  this  gravel.  If  the  need  of  the  traffic  can  be 
met  by  such  a  road  and  the  material  for  use  is  at  hand, 
the  capitalized  cost,  including  the  expenses  of  repairs  made 
with  all  desirable  frequency  and  care,  probably  need  not 
be  greater  than  one  half  that  of  the  dearer  form  of  con- 
struction with  broken  stone. 

The  peculiar  advantage  of  gravel  roads,  as  regards  their 
cost,  is  that  they  require  no  investment  of  money  in  rollers, 
crushers,  or  other  costly  machinery.  There  is,  it  is  true, 
a  certain  advantage  in  rolling  the  surface  of  the  bed  before 
the  gravel  is  applied  in  order  to  bring  it  into  shape  for 
use,  but  this  is  by  no  means  necessar}^  All  the  needed 
compacting  can  be  left  to  the  carriage- wheels,  or  may  be 
in  part  effected  by  horse-rollers.  No  use  of  the  steam-roller 
within  the  practicable  limits  of  its  continuance  will  cause 
gravel  to  "  come  down  "  in  the  manner  of  ordinary  broken 
stone.  This  pressure,  in  the  present  state  of  the  art,  had  best 
be  left  to  the  action  of  the  vehicles.  Therefore  once  again 
it  is  urged  that,  while  the  pavement  of  broken  stone  is  in 
most  instances  the  best  and  in  many  cases  is  indispensable, 
the  fitness  of  any  road  for  the  service  of  a  community 
should  be  made  the  subject  of  careful  inquiry  before 
adopting  the  costlier  method  of  construction. 

SIDEWALKS 

Too  little  attention  is  given  in  this  country  to  the  foot- 
ways alongside  of  the  carriage  roads.     In  the  more  culti- 


220  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

vated  portions  of  Europe  provision  for  them  is  made ;  in 
many  districts  such  ways,  miles  in  length,  are  well  cared 
for.  In  many  districts,  such  as  parts  of  the  Alps,  where 
it  would  not  be  economical  to  construct  roads  for  wheels, 
foot-paths  are  carefully  maintained.  Not  infrequently  in 
the  Old  World  the  ancient  tracks  once  traversed  by  pack- 
trains  remain  as  paths  for  men.  Here  and  there  the  trav- 
eler may  find  dwellings,  and  even  small  hamlets,  which 
have  never  been  approached  by  a  wheeled  vehicle.  Similar 
conditions  exist  in  many  of  the  remote  valleys  of  the 
southern  Appalachians,  where  a  bridle-path  affords  the 
only  means  of  approach  to  considerable  settlements. 

As  the  blow  of  the  human  foot  is  hght,  sidewalks,  except 
in  densely  settled  places,  are  easily  kept  in  repair.  They 
need  be  of  no  great  width.  The  main  object  should  be  to 
guard  against  mud.  This  can  be  most  effectively  accom- 
plished by  a  construction  made  in  the  following  described 
manner.  A  ditch  about  one  foot  in  depth  should  be  ex- 
cavated for  the  width  of  the  proposed  path.  This  work 
can  generally  be  done  by  the  plow  and  ordinary  scraper. 
This  should  be  filled  with  pebbles,  gravel,  or  broken  stone, 
the  coarser  material  at  the  bottom.  On  this  foundation 
there  should  be  a  layer  of  two  or  three  inches  of  gravel  of 
a  quality  that  will  cohere ;  the  dust  from  the  stone-crusher, 
of  which  there  is  generally  a  surplus,  is  well  fitted  for  this 
layer.  This  surface  should,  if  convenient,  be  rolled  with 
a  horse-roUer  after  watering,  but  it  will  serve  pretty  well 
without  this  additional  treatment. 

When  the  earth  on  which  the  sidewalk  is  bu.ilt  is  not 
readily  permeable  by  water,  drains  filled  with  pebbles  or, 
better,  of  small  clay  pipe  should  be  carried  to  the  gutters 
of  the  main  way  at  intervals  of  about  one  hundred  feet. 
The  surface  of  the  walk  should  rise  two  or  three  inches 


COST   OF  ROAD-BUILDING  221 

above  the  level  of  the  ground  about  it.  Thus  constructed, 
the  walk  may  be  expected  to  remain  without  grassing  over 
and  with  little  effect  from  the  action  of  frost.  It  is  not 
likely  to  need  repairing,  except,  it  may  be,  by  the  addi- 
tion of  materials  to  the  top  coating. 

Sidewalks  of  the  type  above  recommended  are  suitable 
for  use  in  communities  where,  though  the  houses  are  much 
scattered,  there  is  a  good  deal  of  passing  afoot.  Where  they 
can  be  afforded  they  should  be  built  along  all  the  main 
ways  leading  to  school-houses  for  as  far  as  the  children 
walk.  Under  favorable  conditions  such  paths  can  be  con- 
structed for  four  or  five  hundred  dollars  per  mile.  Cheaper, 
yet  serviceable,  paths  can  be  made  by  clearing  away  the  sod 
or  mat  of  roots,  and  placing  on  the  surface  a  layer  of  gravel 
or  the  waste  dust  from  the  stone-crusher.  This  layer 
should  be  at  least  four  inches  thick. 

Where  sidewalks  are  not  practicable  apart  from  the 
main  road-bed,  as  in  cuts,  it  may  be  desirable  to  extend  the 
non-metaled  shoulder  of  the  way,  so  that  it  may  be  twice 
as  broad  as  is  needed  in  the  interests  of  the  vehicles.  This 
will  serve  as  a  foot-path.  It  is  open  to  the  objection  that 
the  footman  is  likely  to  be  in  some  danger  while  on  the 
main  road. 

GUARD-RAILS   AND   PARAPETS 

In  proportion  as  the  grades  of  a  road  are  improved  the 
resulting  embankments  become  sources  of  danger  to  ve- 
hicles and  their  occupants.  It  is  therefore  necessary  to 
provide  barriers  sufficiently  high  and  strong  to  insure  pro- 
tection against  the  chance  of  vehicles  falling  down  the 
slopes.  In  Europe  the  usual  guard  is  a  stone  waU  on  either 
side  of  the  embankment  down  which  a  vehicle  could  be 
precipitated.     Such  walls,  though  from  their  permanence 


222  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

not  in  the  end  so  costly  as  they  may  at  first  sight  seem, 
are  beyond  the  means  of  most  American  communities. 
Moreover,  the  depth  to  which  frost  penetrates  in  America 
makes  it  more  difficult  to  insure  safe  foundations  for  ma- 
sonry than  in  the  Old  World.  On  this  account  the  usual 
protection  to  the  sides  of  the  embankments  in  this  country 
is  made  by  means  of  guard-rails.  As  this  rail  is  costly 
and  subjected  to  decay,  it  is  usually  much  better,  when  the 
height  of  the  embankment  is  slight,  say  less  than  three  or 
four  feet,  to  extend  the  slope  so  as  to  obtain  a  grade  which 
may  be  so  gentle  that  serious  accidents  cannot  occur  to 
vehicles  which  leave  the  road. 

In  the  Massachusetts  State  work  guard-rails  are  required 
to  be  made  as  follows  :  Posts  of  cedar  or  other  wood  which 
endures  well  in  the  soil  are  set  at  intervals  of  ten  feet,  and 
one  foot  in  from  the  edge  of  the  embankment.  These  posts 
are  planted  to  the  depth  of  three  feet,  and  project  for  three 
feet  six  inches  above  the  ground.  The  top  of  this  post  is 
transversely  notched,  so  as  to  receive  one  half  of  a  rail  four 
inches  square.  Half-way  down  the  post  it  is  notched  to 
receive  another  rail  two  by  six  inches  in  size.  These  rails, 
preferably  of  planed  spruce  wood,  are  spiked  to  the  posts. 
To  insure  the  better  preservation  of  the  wood  and  its  vis- 
ibility in  the  night-time  it  is  painted  with  two  coats  of  oil 
paint  of  some  light  color. 

It  seems  likely  that  for  the  protection  of  the  slopes  from 
washing  or  sliding,  as  well  as  to  guard  against  the  falling 
of  vehicles,  it  may  be  well  to  plant  the  declivities  with  some 
swift-growing  species  of  trees  or  stout  bushes.  For  this 
purpose  the  larch  is  well  adapted  because  of  the  speed  of 
its  growth  and  the  beauty  of  its  foliage.  Under  favorable 
conditions  trees  two  years  old,  the  best  size  for  planting, 
will  in  ten  years  make  a  dense  growth  which  would  aiford 


COST   OF   ROAD-BUILDING  223 

a  better  barrier  than  guard-rails  after  they  had  become 
partly  decayed,  as  they  surely  would  do  at  the  end  of  that 
time.  By  planting  the  upper  row  of  trees,  say,  two  feet 
down  the  slope  from  the  guard-rail  and  at  intervals  of  ten 
feet,  they  would  in  time  serve  as  posts  to  which,  if  desired, 
rails  could  be  fastened. 


THE  PAVEMENTS  OF  CITY  STREETS 

Although,  as  before  stated,  it  is  not  in  the  purpose  of  this 
work  to  treat  of  the  problems  encountered  in  the  construc- 
tion and  management  of  city  streets,  it  may  not  be  deemed 
amiss  to  devote  a  little  space  to  certain  considerations 
as  to  this  class  of  ways,  especially  as  to  the  conditions 
encountered  in  constructing  and  maintaining  them  in  the 
lesser  towns.  Where,  as  in  our  great  cities,  the  duty  of 
building  and  caring  for  the  ways  is  in  the  hands  of  able 
engineers,  the  presumption  is  that  they  are  so  far  compe- 
tent to  meet  the  difficulties  they  have  to  encounter  that 
general  advice  as  to  their  duties  would  be  misplaced.  In 
the  smaller  towns,  however,  the  care  of  the  streets  is  often 
necessarily  confided  to  men  who  have  had  but  little  expe- 
rience in  highway  construction. 

PRINCIPAL  VARIETIES   OF   PAVEMENT 

At  the  present  time  the  greater  part  of  the  streets  of  the 
towns  great  and  small  in  this  country  are  paved  with 
broken  stone.  This  method  of  construction  is  to  be  com- 
mended as  on  the  whole  the  most  satisfactory  for  the  cost 
incurred,  provided  the  stone  which  is  to  be  used  is  of  the 
more  enduring  kinds,  and  the  travel  over  it  not  of  a  nature 
to  insure  its  speedy  destruction.   In  most  American  towns 


224  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

it  is  the  custom  to  do  the  conveying  of  coal  and  other  gross 
materials  in  very  heavily  laden  wagons,  with  the  result 
that  on  the  business  streets  a  covering  of  any  kind  of 
broken  stone  wears  out  with  great  rapidity.  This  entails 
ill-conditioned  ways  or  frequently  recurring  general  re- 
pairs, with  the  consequent  interruption  of  travel.  In  all 
cases  where  the  traffic  is  heavy  the  result,  unless  the 
cleaning  be  frequent  and  systematic,  is  very  dirty  streets. 
Therefore,  except  on  those  v/ays  which  have  little  other 
traffic  than  that  which  is  related  to  dwelling-houses,  it  is 
generally  impolitic  to  essay  roads  paved  with  broken  stone. 

Where  the  amount  of  wear  on  a  macadamized  road  ex- 
ceeds about  three  quarters  of  an  inch  each  year,  the  pre- 
sumption is  that  true  economy  demands  a  substitution  of 
pavement  of  some  more  enduring  material.  The  choice 
of  this  harder  surface  lies  between  blocks  of  granite  or  of 
trap,  brick,  or  asphalt.  Pavements  of  wooden  blocks,  once 
much  in  vogue  in  this  country  and  still  to  a  considerable 
extent  used  in  Europe,  appear  to  be  on  the  whole  unfitted 
to  the  conditions  of  American  climate.  Moreover,  expe- 
rience has  shown  that  pavements  of  wood  often  become 
objectionable  from  the  quantity  of  foul  matters  which  they 
absorb,  and  which  make  them  offensive  in  the  hot  Ameri- 
can summers. 

As  between  a  pavement  of  stone  blocks,  of  brick,  or  of 
asphalt  the  choice  may  well  be  made  on  the  basis  of  the 
relative  cost  of  these  materials,  which  varies  considerably 
in  different  parts  of  this  country.  In  New  England  and 
southward  along  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  in  the  region 
adjacent  to  southwestern  Missouri,  where  good  stone  for 
block  pavement  is  obtained,  the  choice  as  determined  by 
cost  is  naturally  in  favor  of  stone.  In  western  New  York 
and  in  the  greater  part  of  the  Mississippi  vaUey,  where 


COST   OF  EOAD-BUILDING  225 

good  clays  for  making  paving-brick  abound,  and  where 
fuel  for  burning  is  cheap,  brick  is  likely  in  almost  all  cases 
to  prove  the  best  resource,  except  on  streets  which  receive 
exceedingly  hard  wear.  In  the  greater  part  of  this  coun- 
try, where  asphalt  is  subject  to  a  large  cost  for  transpor- 
tation, the  expense  encountered  in  using  it  on  roads  is 
likely  to  make  its  use  wasteful,  except  under  peculiar  con- 
ditions, which  are  now  to  be  noted. 

In  considering  the  character  of  a  city  pavement,  atten- 
tion should  be  paid  to  the  noise  which  is  caused  by  the 
passage  of  vehicles  over  it.  Where  stone  blocks  are  used, 
owing  to  the  exceeding  hardness  and  ringing  nature  of  the 
material,  and  also  to  the  necessary  iiTegularities  of  the 
way  thus  paved,  the  din  produced  by  the  traffic  is  a  serious 
nuisance.  In  fact,  the  infliction  arising  from  this  evil 
is  one  of  the  most  objectionable  features  due  to  this 
kind  of  pavement.  It  appears  possible  to  mitigate  the 
noise  from  the  pavement  of  stone  blocks  by  having  the 
masses  which  are  used  of  larger  surface  and  with  less  in- 
tervals at  their  junctions.  There  seems  no  reason,  indeed, 
why  it  may  not  be  possible,  with  the  modern  methods  of 
stone-cutting,  to  provide  a  pavement  of  granitic  or  gneissic 
rock  which  shall  be  so  smooth  that  it  will  not  resound  in 
any  objectionable  manner  to  the  blows  of  the  wheels  and 
feet,  but  as  yet  such  constructions  have  not  been  made. 

Pavements  of  brick,  when  the  material  is  of  the  best 
kind  and  the  laying  properly  done,  afford  very  enduring 
ways,  which  can  be  kept  in  a  more  cleanly  state  than  those 
made  of  stone  blocks,  and  which  are  much  less  noisy.  The 
reason  for  this  is  that  the  depressions,  the  units  of  the 
pavement,  are  less  deep  and  the  materials  of  less  resound- 
ing nature. 

Asphalt  pavements  are  apparently  not  well  fitted  for  use 


226  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

where  the  traffic  is  of  the  heaviest  kind,  for  the  reason 
that  the  rate  of  wearing  is,  under  those  circumstances, 
great.  They  are,  however,  more  easily  kept  clean  than 
any  other  pavements.  They  are  much  less  noisy  than  the 
ways  made  by  either  of  the  methods  of  construction  before 
noted,  in  this  regard  being  only  surpassed  by  wooden 
pavements.  In  regions  of  excessive  heat  pavements  of  this 
description  soften  to  such  an  extent  that  the  wearing  is 
much  accelerated.  In  dry  weather,  moreover,  unless 
carefuUy  watered,  they  afford  an  objectionable  dust,  and 
the  odor  from  them,  although  by  no  means  unwholesome, 
is  to  many  persons  objectionable. 

DIFFICULTIES   ARISING   FROM  TRAMWAYS 

The  existence  of  tramways  in  city  streets  much  limits 
the  choice  of  materials  to  be  used  in  the  paving.  Where 
the  traffic  is  heavy  it  is  very  difficult  to  maintain  in  good 
order  the  portion  of  the  street  lying  next  the  rails.  Some- 
thing of  this  same  difficulty  is  encountered  in  the  use  of 
brick,  but  it  may  be  met  in  various  ways,  as  by  the  use  of 
a  narrow  strip  of  block  pavement  next  the  railway.  In 
general,  however,  where  railways  traverse  narrow  streets 
the  only  satisfactory  pavement  appears  to  be  that  made  of 
stone  blocks. 

In  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  great  cities  there  are 
likely  to  be  ways  which,  though  they  traverse  rural  dis- 
tricts, are  subjected  to  a  traffic  so  heavy  as  to  demand  the 
use  of  block  pavements.  Where  this  is  the  case,  as,  for 
instance,  on  the  main  highway  between  the  cities  of  Boston 
and  Lynn,  Massachusetts,  it  may  be  desirable,  where  pos- 
sible, to  have  two  diverse  kinds  of  pavement  arranged  in 
strips  parallel  to  each  other :  that  of  blocks  for  the  heavily 


COST  OF  ROAD-BUILDINa  227 

laden  vehicles,  and  that  of  macadam  for  those  of  a  lighter 
description.  The  success  of  such  a  method,  however,  would 
depend  upon  the  efficiency  of  regulations  which  would  serve 
to  keep  the  two  classes  of  vehicles  apart. 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  STREETS  AS  REGARDS   TRAFFIC 

It  seems  desirable  in  our  cities  to  follow  the  plan,  so 
generally  adopted  in  the  greater  towns  of  Europe,  of  sep- 
arating the  freight  and  pleasure  traffic,  so  that  the  use  of 
certain  roads  which  may  be  paved  with  macadam  may  be 
reserved  for  the  lighter  class  of  vehicles,  while  certain 
other  ways,  paved  in  a  more  enduring  fashion,  but  in  a 
manner  objectionable  to  those  who  ride  for  pleasure,  may 
be  kept  for  freighting  purposes.  By  the  institution  of 
such  a  division  the  noise  arising  from  the  passage  of 
heavily  laden  vehicles  over  block  pavements  may  be,  to  a 
great  extent,  avoided  in  parts  of  our  towns  which  are  de- 
voted to  residence.  Moreover,  the  aggregate  cost  for  the 
construction  and  maintenance  of  ways  may  by  this  means 
be  somewhat  reduced. 

An  incidental  mention  has  abeady  been  made  of  the 
possible  advantage  arising  from  the  use  of  large  stone 
blocks  on  city  pavements.  It  may  be  said  that  construc- 
tions of  this  same  general  nature  are  common  in  many 
parts  of  the  Old  World,  and  that,  except  for  the  slippery 
character  of  the  surface  in  wet  weather  and  in  times  of 
frost,  there  seems  no  objection  to  the  method.  In  the  con- 
dition of  our  modern  art  of  stone-cutting  by  machinery  it 
would  be  quite  possible  to  maintain  the  surface  of  such 
large  paving-blocks  in  a  suitably  roughened  condition  to 
insure  a  sufficient  hold  for  the  horses'  feet  by  the  use  of 
machines  which  would  from  time  to  time  channel  the  sur- 

14 


228  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

face  in  some  proper  manner.  Such  machines  also  conld 
be  nsed  to  plane  down  any  irregularities  of  the  surface 
which  would  arise  from  the  diverse  rates  of  wear  of  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  stone. 

The  greatest  difficulty  which  has  been  encountered  in 
maintaining  the  highways  of  great  cities  arises  from  the 
use  of  the  ground  beneath  them  for  a  variety  of  purposes— 
sewerage,  water-supply,  gas,  etc.  There  is  but  one  method 
in  which  the  exceeding  evils  which  this  entails  can  be  over- 
come, and  that  is  by  having  some  form  of  large  conduit 
below  the  street  which  will  afford  a  place  for  all  the  sub- 
terranean structures  which  need  traverse  the  way. 


CHAPTER   XII 

ON  EDUCATION  IN  THE    SCIENCE  AND  ART   OF  ROAD- 
BUILDING 

Conditions  of  a  training  in  highway  engineering.  Methods  of  in- 
struction. Opportunities  for  employment  in  highway  engineer- 
ing. Relations  of  State  "boards  to  highway  engineers.  Special 
methods  of  instruction 

THE  importance  of  extending  knowledge  concerning 
road-building  in  this  country  has  often  been  in- 
cidentally mentioned  in  the  preceding  pages.  This  matter 
is  of  such  importance  that  it  deserves  the  especial  consid- 
eration which  will  now  be  given  to  it.  Let  us  first  note 
the  fact  that  in  America  there  is  no  traditional  know- 
ledge of  the  subject  such  as  has  been  gathered  and  trans- 
mitted in  the  Old  World  from  centuries  of  experience  and 
the  teaching  of  able  road-masters.  Like  traditions,  as 
regards  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,  were  brought 
to  America  by  the  early  settlers,  have  been  deliberately 
imported  by  bringing  skilled  workmen  of  the  several  crafts, 
or  have  been  locally  developed  in  a  way  to  meet  our  pe- 
culiar needs ;  but  the  art  of  road-making  and  road-keeping 
has,  by  reason  of  the  newness  of  the  country,  together 
with  the  need  of  capital  in  the  costly  work  of  subjugating 
the  land,  remained  undeveloped.  In  our  time  the  problem 
refers  to  the  means  by  which  we  may  provide  men  with 
the  training  necessary  to  do  the  tasks  of  the  road  engineer 

229 


230  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

in  an  efficient  manner.  We  need  not  be  concerned  about 
the  training  of  the  foreman  or  the  humbler  laborers.  It 
is  the  province  of  the  engineer,  one  which  he  easily  fills, 
to  teach  ordinarily  intelligent  workmen  how  to  carry  out 
the  plans  he  may  form. 

CONDITIONS   OF  A  TRAINING  IN  HIGHWAY  ENGINEERING 

One  of  the  principal  difficulties  in  arranging  for  the 
education  of  highway  engineers  arises  from  an  entire  mis- 
conception as  to  the  extent  to  which  they  need  training. 
Eoads  appear,  to  those  who  do  not  know  either  their  im- 
portance or  the  complicated  nature  of  the  problems  in- 
volved in  their  structure  and  maintenance,  to  be  such  very 
simple  things  that,  like  other  states  of  dust,  such  as  the 
soil  itself,  there  appears  to  be  needed  only  a  little  ordinary 
practice  to  fit  any  dabster  to  deal  with  them.  In  fact,  our 
highwaj^s  require  of  the  engineers  who  are  to  deal  with 
them  in  an  efficient  way  a  wider  range  of  knowledge  than 
is  demanded  of  any  other  branch  of  engineering  labor. 
A  thoroughly  well-trained  highway  engineer  must  be  a 
good  topographer,  and  a  competent  geologist  as  regards 
many  parts  of  that  science,  especially  petrography  and  the 
structure  and  history  of  the  surface  of  the  ground.  He 
should  know  something  of  climatology  and  chemistry.  To 
these  acquirements  he  should  add  the  resources  of  what 
is  commonly  called  civil  engineering,  as  well  as  so  much  of 
mechanical  engineering  as  may  fit  him  to  deal  with  the 
machinery  which  is  used  in  his  art.  To  fit  him  for  duties 
which  pertain  to  so  many  branches  of  science  and  tech- 
nology calls  for  a  body  of  practical  experience  superadded 
to  a  sound  and  extensive  general  training.  He  must,  in 
a  word,  be  weU  educated  before  he  can  be  deemed  prepared 


EDUCATION  IN  ROAD-BUILDING  231 

to  deal  with  the  apparently  commonplace  business  of  road- 
making.  It  is  clear,  in  a  word,  that  men  are  not  to  be 
fitted  for  this  class  of  duties  by  mere  practice.  The  task 
demands  well-organized  schooling. 

It  is  a  very  characteristic  error  of  our  modern  method 
of  educating  men  for  engineering  work  that  we  proceed 
to  divide  them  into  separate  professional  groups,  mak- 
ing their  training  appear  to  relate  to  distinct  accomplish- 
ments. We  thus  have  the  courses  of  study  in  our  technical 
schools  arranged  with  reference  to  degrees  in  civil,  me- 
chanical, electrical,  hydraulic,  and  other  engineering  work, 
the  system  resting  on  the  principle,  or  rather  on  the  as- 
sumption, that  quite  diverse  educational  schemes  are 
required  to  fit  persons  for  these  several  employments. 
Something  of  the  same  motive  is  to  be  noted  in  other  fields 
of  education  where  men  are  to  be  trained  for  employments, 
but  nowhere  else  is  the  evil  of  over-specialization  of  in- 
struction so  evident  as  in  that  of  engineering.  A  true  view 
of  the  matter,  one  to  be  attained  with  a  Httle  consideration, 
will  show  that,  while  the  work  of  this  profession  is  many- 
sided,  the  preparation  for  it  demands  of  all  students  es- 
sentially the  same  plan  of  study. 

The  characteristic  f eatui-e  of  the  profession  of  engineer- 
ing is  that  it  has  to  do  with  the  scientific  application  of 
the  energies  and  resistances  of  the  physical  world  to  the 
needs  of  man.  Thus  defined,  it  stands  apart  from  other 
branches  of  human  activity  in  a  fairly  clear  way.  Other 
occupations,  such  as  those  of  the  surgeon,  have  a  certain 
kinship  with  it,  but  they  are  distinguished  by  the  fact  that 
they  relate  to  the  organic  or  hving  side  of  the  natural  world. 
The  common  feature  of  all  engineering  work  being  the 
need  of  fitting  the  student  for  applying  the  arts  which  deal 
with  the  grosser  and  more  massive  side  of  the  world's 


232  AMERICAN  HiaHWAYS 

affairs,  it  is  proper  that  the  training  which  is  to  fit  men  for 
this  field  of  duty  should,  whatever  the  special  application 
of  the  work  is  to  be,  have  a  like  foundation.  All  of  them 
need  to  gain  a  clear  sense  of  the  properties  of  matter  and 
the  modes  of  action  of  energy,  as  well  as  the  mathematical 
knowledge  by  which  computations  relating  to  these  features 
may  be  made. 

METHODS   OF   INSTRUCTION 

For  the  reasons  given  above  it  is  best  that  the  training 
to  be  given  to  engineers  who  are  to  devote  themselves 
mainly  to  highway  work  should  in  its  essentials  be  the 
same  as  that  which  fits  the  other  men  who  are  to  enter  this 
large  profession.  They  should,  in  a  word,  be  well-trained 
civil  engineers  in  the  largest  sense  of  that  term.  To  this 
general  study  there  should  be  added  certain  special  teach- 
ing designed  to  meet  the  needs  which  the  road-builder  is 
sure  to  encounter.  A  good  working  knowledge  as  to  the 
properties  of  rocks  and  of  the  nature  of  the  surface  de- 
posits of  the  earth,  valuable  to  all  men  of  the  engineering 
profession,  is  indispensable  to  those  who  are  to  deal  in  an 
intimate  and  effective  way  with  earth  and  stones.  The 
chemistry  and  physics  needed  by  all  engineers  will  suffice 
for  those  who  are  to  have  to  do  with  this  branch  of  the 
profession,  but  some  little  learning  in  climatology^,  espe- 
cially that  which  pertains  to  rainfall  and  to  the  effects  of 
cliniate  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  would  be  advantageous. 

As  regards  the  details  of  the  instruction  in  road-making 
which  should  be  given  to  those  engineering  students  who 
may  intend  to  make  a  specialty  of  highway  work,  I  cannot 
give  a  clear  idea  so  well  in  any  other  way  as  by  stating 
the  method  which  is  followed  in  the  Lawrence  Scientific 
School  of  Harvard  University.   In  that  institution  the  in- 


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EDUCATION    IN  EOAD-BUILDING  235 

struction  in  this  branch  is  given  in  the  fourth  or  last  year 
of  the  course  for  civil  engineers.  The  instruction  is  given 
by  Mr.  W.  B.  McClintock,  the  engineer  member  of  the 
Massachusetts  Highway  Commission,  long  and  well  known 
as  an  expert  in  road-building.  The  details  of  the  system 
have  been  wrought  out  in  connection  with  the  experience 
gained  as  to  the  needs  of  engineers  employed  in  that 
State.  The  teaching  includes  a  course  of  lectures,  illus- 
trated by  models  and  lantern  shdes,  in  which  are  considered 
the  history  of  road-building  and  the  various  modes  of  doing 
such  work.  In  the  engineering  laboratories  of  the  school 
there  is  one  devoted  to  experiments  on  the  properties  of 
road-building  materials  and  the  methods  of  testing  them. 
In  this  workshop  there  has  been  carried  on  for  several  years 
a  series  of  tests  for  the  information  of  the  Massachusetts 
Highway  Commission.  These  experiments  have  led  to  the 
invention  of  methods  and  of  apparatus  which  have  brought 
about  a  considerable  and  important  extension  of  the  for- 
merly existing  means  for  exploring  the  properties  of  road- 
building  materials.  This  apparatus  and  the  practical  work 
which  it  is  doing  serve  for  the  instruction  of  students. 
During  term  time,  as  weU  as  in  the  long  vacation,  the 
men  have  abundant  opportunities  of  visiting  roads  which 
are  under  the  process  of  construction  and  repair.  The 
neighborhood  of  Cambridge,  within  a  radius  of  five  miles 
from  the  school,  affords  in  its  variety  of  roads,  as  regards 
their  natural  conditions  and  their  treatment,  opportunities 
for  practical  inquiry  which  are  exceedingly  good.  There 
the  students  may  see  all  grades  of  roads,  from  the  various 
kinds  of  pavements  used  in  a  great  city  to  the  ordinary 
earth  ways  of  very  rural  districts.  They  may  observe  the 
effects  of  good  and  bad  systems  of  construction  and  main- 
tenance.  It  may  be  said,  in  a  word,  that  the  opportunities 


236  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

for  obtaining  a  clear  and  extended  view  of  road  problems 
are  probably  unequaled  by  any  other  field  in  this  country. 

Although  the  conditions  for  the  development  of  instruc- 
tion in  the  art  of  road-making  are  at  present  better  at 
Harvard  than  they  are  at  any  other  school  in  this  country, 
and  the  project  for  such  work  has  been  carried  out  there 
in  a  more  complete  manner  than  elsewhere,  there  is  no 
reason  why  in  every  other  regard,  except  that  which  con- 
cerns the  practical  instruction  based  on  the  processes  of 
road-building  under  varied  conditions,  like  teaching  should 
not  be  done  in  every  large  engineering  school  in  this  coun- 
try. The  cost  of  a  well-fitted  laboratory  need  not  exceed 
ten  thousand  dollars.  If,  indeed,  it  be  established  in  con- 
nection with  those  in  petrography  and  mechanical  engi- 
neering, it  may  be  very  much  less  than  that  sum.  If  the 
establishment  is  maintained  in  connection  with  State  work 
in  testing  road-building  materials,  there  will  be  an  assur- 
ance of  continued  practical  experiments  which  is  necessary 
to  give  the  highest  value  to  illustrations  such  as  a  workshop 
may  afford  to  students. 

OPPORTUNITIES   FOR  EMPLOYMENT  IN   HIGHWAY 
ENGINEERING 

It  may  well  be  asked.  What  is  the  chance  of  a  young 
man  finding  employment,  provided  he  prepares  himself  in 
a  thoroughgoing  way  for  the  duties  of  a  road  engineer? 
In  answer  to  this  question,  it  may  be  said  that  at  this 
moment  the  profession  is  about  in  the  condition  in  which 
electrical  engineering  was  twenty  years  ago.  The  attention 
of  the  public  has  been  curiously  awakened  to  the  need  of 
bettered  ways.  As  yet  the  importance  of  having  such 
ways  built  under  the  charge  of  competent  experts  has  not 


EDUCATION  IN   ROAD-BUILDING  237 

become  evident  to  the  people,  as  it  soon  must.  Yet  there 
is  ah-eady  a  growing  demand  for  persons  of  training  in  the 
highway  art.  The  Massachusetts  Highway  Commission 
last  year  employed  about  fifty  men  in  the  field,  the  greater 
number  as  resident  engineers  in  charge  of  constructions. 
The  extension  of  State  work  in  other  parts  of  the  country 
appears  assured.  It  promises,  indeed,  within  ten  years  to 
create  a  demand  for  the  services  of  competent  road  sur- 
veyors much  greater  than  that  which  is  now  made  by  any 
other  one  branch  of  the  engineering  profession.  Thus 
there  is  enough  promise  to  justify  the  young  engineer  in 
devoting  a  portion  of  his  study  to  those  branches  which 
may  serve  to  fit  him  for  highway  work,  though  the  op- 
portunity does  not  justify  him  in  accepting  a  training 
which  would  make  him  fit  for  this  employment  alone.  In 
fact,  no  chance  whatever  wiU  warrant  a  student  in  limiting 
himseK  to  one  narrow  field  of  what  should  be  a  broad  and 
enlarging  profession. 

The  employment  of  trained  engineers  in  highway  work 
promises  to  develop  a  field  of  occupation  for  men  in  this 
profession  which  will  give  its  members  something  like  the 
same  station  in  our  rural  societies  that  is  now  held  by 
physicians  and  lawyers,  with  quite  as  close  a  relation  to 
their  general  life.  Hitherto  there  has  not  been  enough  busi- 
ness in  the  way  of  engineering  in  the  districts  of  this 
country  outside  of  the  great  towns  to  afford  a  livelihood 
to  engineers.  We  may  now  hope  that  well-trained  men 
may  find  a  substantial  basis  for  support  in  the  care  of 
highways,  and  that  they  may  incidentally  take  charge  of 
a  wide  range  of  work  in  other  branches  of  their  profession 
which  have  hitherto  been  left  without  due  attention.  Such 
matters  as  household  and  town  drainage  and  water-supply 
would  receive  better  consideration  were  engineers  so  dis- 


238  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

tributed  that  they  might  enter  in  an  intimate  way  into  the 
councils  of  the  people. 


RELATIONS   OF   STATE    BOARDS  TO  HIGHWAY  ENGINEERS 

The  highway  administration  which  may  be  established 
through  State  boards  having  such  work  in  charge  can  do 
much  to  affirm  the  position  of  the  rural  engineers  by  ar- 
ranging the  work  of  supervision,  and  perhaps  of  construc- 
tion as  well,  in  such  a  manner  that  it  will  be  in  the  hands 
of  resident  surveyors  rather  than  in  those  of  men  who  are 
merely  detailed  for  special  tasks.  There  is  an  advantage 
in  having  such  tasks  in  charge  of  persons  who  dwell  in  the 
region  in  which  the  work  lies,  for  the  reason  that  they  may 
come  to  have  that  detailed  knowledge  concerning  the  under- 
earth  conditions  on  which  sound  practice  in  road-building 
so  intimately  depends.  At  present,  however,  there  is  no 
class  of  local  engineers  on  whom  the  officers  of  these  boards 
can  rely.  It  will  only  be  in  a  gradual  manner  that  such 
an  arrangement  can  be  brought  about. 


SPECIAL   METHODS    OF    INSTRUCTION 

While  awaiting  the  development  of  a  body  of  well-trained 
engineers  to  whom  may  be  committed  the  care  of  our  high- 
ways, it  is  worth  while  to  do  what  is  possible  to  improve 
the  condition  of  the  usually  untrained,  but  generally  in- 
telligent and  devoted,  men  who  have  charge  of  our  roads. 
The  members  of  this  class  of  superintendents  of  highways 
are  necessarily  more  ignorant  of  their  business  than  any 
other  body  of  men  who  are  charged  with  important  public 
duties.   From  the  nature  of  their  conditions  this  could  not 


EDUCATION  IN  ROAD-BUILDING  239 

be  otherwise  than  it  is.  With  rare  exceptions,  they  have 
never  seen  a  road  built  which  could  in  any  way  fitly  serve 
to  guide  them  in  their  OAvn  undertakings.  Now  and  then 
one  who  journeys  much  will  find  a  set  of  roads  built  by 
some  born  master  who  has  worked  out  for  himself  the 
problems  of  drainage  or  the  use  of  gravel  and  other  ma- 
terials which  the  roadside  may  afford ;  but  such  are  very 
rare  exceptions.  The  ordinary  road-master  of  this  country 
is  not  inventive,  or,  if  so,  his  devices  are  of  a  vicious  sort. 
For  all  their  shortcomings,  they  are  as  a  rule  faithful  public 
servants,  very  anxious  to  advance  in  their  art.  Under 
these  conditions  we  may  hope  to  effect  good  results  in  the 
manner  set  forth  below. 

The  superintendents  of  roads  in  each  conveniently  large 
district  should  be  brought  together  once  each  year  for 
•instruction.  This  could  be  given  by  means  of  lectures, 
and  perhaps  by  practical  illustrations  showing  the  methods 
of  road-building  with  the  use  of  the  standard  means  of 
construction.  The  meetings  might  well  be  held  at  places 
where  roads  were  in  process  of  building  or  repair.  A 
provision  in  the  laws  regulating  the  Massachusetts  com- 
mission requires  that  board  once  each  year  to  hold  an 
advertised  meeting  in  the  shire  town  of  each  county,  at 
which  meeting  road-masters  and  others  may  seek  infor- 
mation concerning  the  making  and  care  of  highways. 
Experience  shows  that  these  meetings  are  profitable  to  the 
men  who  resort  to  them  for  information.  The  results  make 
it  seem  likely  that  a  more  extensive  and  systematic  plan  of 
instruction  might  be  as  helpful  to  road-masters  as  the  like 
methods  of  teachers'  institutes  are  helpful  in  our  schools. 
It  may  be  that  a  suitable  method  of  doing  this  work  would 
be  through  the  agricultural  societies  of  this  coimtry.  In 
many  of  the  States  these  societies  are  strong  enough  to 


240  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

afford  tlie  cost  of  this  undertaking.  At  the  moment  there 
are  too  few  persons  acquainted  with  the  work  of  road- 
building  to  provide  instructors  for  such  work,  but  in  a  few 
years  we  may  hope  to  have  experts  at  command  for  this 
duty. 

In  Massachusetts  the  highway  masters  have  an  associa- 
tion which  has  regular  meetings,  at  which  there  are  oppor- 
tunities for  discussing  methods  and  results  of  their  labors. 
In  this,  as  in  other  employments,  such  meetings  tend  to 
develop  a  professional  spirit,  which  always  leads  to  better 
work  on  the  part  of  those  who  feel  it.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  much  good  will  be  accomplished  by  founding  such 
associations  wherever  the  road-masters  can  be  induced  to 
interest  themselves  in  the  matter. 

Although  the  Kterature  concerning  road-making  which 
is  fitted  to  the  needs  of  this  country  is  not  large  in  amount, 
there  are  certain  works  which  deserve  a  place  in  all  rural 
libraries,  where  they  may  serve  the  needs  of  those  who  are 
interested  in  the  matter.  For  the  convenience  of  those 
who  may  desire  to  possess  such  works  a  list  of  the  more 
important  of  those  in  the  English  language  is  given  in  an 
appendix.  It  should  be  said  that  until  within  a  few  years 
there  have  been  few  important  contributions  to  this  branch 
of  economic  science  brought  forth  in  this  country,  and  that 
the  French  and  German  works,  though  numerous  and 
interesting  to  the  specialist,  are  generally  of  little  value  to 
our  people,  for  the  reason  that  they  deal  with  conditions 
of  labor,  administration,  and  to  a  great  extent  of  climate, 
which  are  quite  other  than  our  own.  Even  the  English 
works,  though  they  are  perhaps  the  best  for  American  use, 
do  not  completely  meet  the  needs  of  this  country. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION 

Existing  conditions  of  transportation  in  this  country.  Reasons  for 
failure.  Methods  of  amendment.  Methods  of  Massachusetts 
Highway  Commission.  Effect  of  methods  of  local  government  on 
improvement  of  roads.  Share  of  the  federal  government.  Pos- 
sible effect  of  inventions 

THE  treatment  of  tlie  problems  concerning  American 
roads  which  has  been  presented  in  the  previous  chap- 
ters of  this  book  has,  because  of  the  nature  of  the  subject, 
been  somewhat  discursive.  It  therefore  seems  desii-able 
to  sum  up  the  various  considerations  which  have  been  de- 
duced, and  to  draw  from  them  the  conclusions  which  may 
promise  to  be  of  value. 

Those  who  would  understand  the  state  and  importance 
of  the  American  highway  question  should  consider  how 
intimately  the  economic  success  and  the  social  develop- 
ment of  communities  depend  upon  the  ease  with  which  the 
people  maintain  the  commerce  within  their  society  and 
with  the  outer  world.  So  absolute  in  this  day  is  this  de- 
pendence on  ease  of  traffic  that  each  distinct  improvement 
or  hindrance  of  it  is  at  once  reflected  in  many  and  varied 
ways ;  not  alone  in  those  of  trade,  but  also  in  moral  and 
intellectual  development. 

241 


242  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

EXISTING  CONDITIONS  OF  TRANSPORTATION  IN  THIS 
COUNTRY 

So  far  as  those  methods  of  transportation  which  relate 
to  the  distant  intercourse  of  our  people  are  concerned,  this 
country  compares,  as  a  whole,  very  favorably  with  any 
equally  extensive  area.  Judged  on  the  basis  of  popula- 
tion, however,  it  is  still  somewhat  less  well  provided  with 
railways  than  are  several  European  states ;  yet  the  rate  of 
growth  of  these  means  of  distant  carriage  is  such  as  to  in- 
sure within  one  or  two  decades  that  the  iron  ways  which 
serve  our  people  will  constitute  as  perfect  a  system  as 
exists  in  any  land. 

While  the  railway  and  steamboat  system  of  the  United 
States  has  been  developed  with  great  rapidity,  and  in  a 
way  that  reflects  much  credit  on  the  skill  and  energy  of 
our  business  men,  the  ancient  and  more  necessary  means 
of  transportation  afforded  by  the  ordinary  wagon  roads 
have  remained  in  a  state  of  shameful  neglect.  Thus,  while 
during  this  half-century  the  usefulness  of  routes  for 
national  and  international  intercourse  has  been  vastly  in- 
creased as  regards  speed,  cheapness,  and  safety,  the  high- 
ways which  are  tributary  to  them  are,  as  a  whole,  in  a 
poorer  state  than  they  were  fifty  years  ago. 

REASONS  FOR  FAILURE 

It  is  not  easy  to  account  for  the  failure  of  the  American 
people  to  attain  success  in  the  management  of  their  high- 
ways. It  is  evident,  however,  that  we  cannot  charge  the 
lack  of  accomplishment  to  a  deficiency  of  public  spirit  or 
an  incapacity  to  deal  with  public  affairs.  The  most  rea- 
sonable explanation  of  the  situation  is  apparently  to  be 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION  243 

found  mainly  in  the  exceeding  ignorance  whicli  prevails 
as  to  the  nature  and  value  of  good  roads,  and  in  lesser 
measure  in  the  obvious  defects  in  our  system  of  local 
government.  As  to  the  first  and  greatest  of  these  hin- 
drances much  has  been  said  in  the  preceding  chapters  of  this 
book.  The  effort  has  been  made  to  show  that  this  country 
was  settled  and  took  its  shape  before  the  revival  of  road- 
making  in  Europe  came  about  after  the  dark  ages,  during 
which  the  governmental  conditions  of  the  Old  World 
made  against  the  free  intercourse  of  peoples.  Of  all  the 
arts  which  relate  to  the  welfare  of  societies,  that  of  high- 
way construction  was  the  last  to  be  restored  to  the  state 
in  which  it  existed  at  the  downfall  of  the  Roman  empire. 
This  restoration  was  slowly  effected,  the  work  being  mainly 
done  by  the  French.  It  was  not  in  any  considerable  mea- 
sure accomplished  until  the  Revolutionary  War  had  sepa- 
rated the  American  colonies  from  European  influence. 
Thus  left  to  themselves,  our  people,  to  a  great  extent  oc- 
cupied with  other  immediate  interests,  have  never  earnestly 
attended  to  the  problem  of  highways.  Even  the  movement 
for  the  betterment  of  roads  which  is  now  observable  in 
this  country  has  not  as  yet  affected  the  masses  of  the 
people  who  are  concerned  with  the  matter ;  it  is  still  limited, 
as  far  as  action  goes,  to  a  few  States  lying  in  the  north- 
eastern part  of  the  Union. 

METHODS  OF  AMENDMENT 

As  regards  the  amendment  of  our  system,  it  is  evident 
that  the  first  important  step  which  needs  to  be  taken  is 
one  that  will  educate  the  people  as  to  the  means  whereby 
their  roads  may  be  improved.  To  attain  this  end  they 
must  be  convinced  that  the  task  of  constructing  good  and 


244  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

enduring  ways  is  much  more  serious  than  they  believe  it 
to  be,  and  that  its  proper  accomplishment  calls  for  a  sys- 
tematic training  of  the  men  who  are  to  do  the  work. 
They  must  be  brought  to  see  that  such  undertakings  de- 
mand the  services  of  educated  men  quite  as  much  as  any 
other  engineering  work,  such  as  bridge-building  or  railway 
construction.  Unless  this  end  is  attained,  we  may  expect 
to  see,  as  the  result  of  the  present  extending  interest  in 
roads,  some  increase  in  our  present  annual  expenditure  on 
rural  ways,  followed  by  a  speedy  decline  of  the  hope  that 
larger  taxes  for  highways  would  be  profitable.  This 
danger  of  disappointment,  due  to  injudicious  expenditure, 
gravely  threatens  to  bring  the  present  movement  for 
bettered  ways  to  an  unhappy  end. 

The  data  for  determining  the  annual  expenditure  of 
money  on  the  roads  of  this  country  have  never  been  col- 
lected with  sufficient  accuracy  to  permit  a  close  reckoning 
as  to  this  element  of  our  national  taxation.  Enough  is 
known,  however,  to  warrant  the  assertion  that  the  total, 
excluding  the  cost  of  city  streets,  exceeds  fifty  million 
dollars,  and  may  amount  to  seventy-five.  Of  this  vast 
sum  the  greater  part  is  wasted  in  ill-contrived  and  tem- 
porary repairs  needed  to  keep  the  ways  in  a  condition  that 
will  permit  the  commerce  which  is  required  to  maintain 
our  civilization.  In  the  present  state  of  our  taxation,  with 
the  burden  of  the  very  complicated  and  costly  system  of 
government,  and  a  pension  debt  which  may  be  reckoned 
at  some  thousand  million  dollars,  resting  upon  the  people, 
it  is  too  much  to  expect  that  they  will  speedily  effect  the 
task  of  reconstructing  their  highways.  This  nation,  as  a 
whole,  is  in  the  position  occupied  by  a  farmer  who  has 
broad  and  fertile  acres  which  have  been  recklessly  mort- 
gaged up  to  the  measure  of  their  net  production,  yet  who 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION  245 

needs  to  renew  his  barns  and  tools.  It  is  nseless  to  tell 
him  that  he  should  have  better  appliances,  or  even  to 
show  him  that  he  could  make  more  money  with  such  a 
provision.  His  reasonable  answer  is  that  such  improve- 
ments must  wait  until  he  has  lessened  the  load  of  his  debts. 

Assuming  that  the  people  of  this  country,  except  in  the 
older  and  richer  parts,  cannot  at  present  well  afford  to 
shoulder  the  debt  which  it  would  be  necessary  to  incur  in 
order  to  obtain  a  substantial  betterment  of  their  highways, 
the  question  arises  as  to  how  far,  on  something  Hke  the 
present  scale  of  expenditure  on  roads,  it  may  be  possible 
to  make  a  reasonable  advance  on  the  existing  conditions. 
It  is  evident  that  this  end  can  be  attained,  if  at  all,  only 
by  diverting  to  permanent  constructions  a  portion  of  the 
money  which  is  now  paid  for  merely  temporary  improve- 
ments. A  close  study  of  the  conditions  of  a  number  of 
New  England  towns  and  of  certain  districts  in  the  central 
and  southern  portions  of  the  Union  has  shown  me  that  it 
is  possible  so  to  change  the  method  of  highway  work  as  to 
attain  the  end  in  view.  The  method  of  doing  this  may  be 
briefly  set  forth  as  f oUows  : 

Within  any  governmental  unit  of  highway  management, 
town,  precinct,  parish,  or  county,  the  roads  should  be 
mapped  in  any  convenient  manner  (for  this  purpose  the 
charting  need  not  be  very  accurate),  so  that  they  may  be 
classified  according  to  their  economic  importance.  It  will 
in  most  districts  be  found  that  somewhere  about  one 
eighth  of  the  total  mileage  of  way  belongs  in  the  group 
of  main  routes  which  concern  the  community  as  a  whole ; 
about  four  eighths  fall  into  the  middle  group,  which  serve 
the  interests  of  large  neighborhoods,  while  the  remainder 
are  mere  branches  of  the  more  important  highways,  de- 
signed for  the  accommodation  of  a  few  farms.    With 


246  AMEEICAN  HIGHWAYS 

sucli  a  classification  graphically  presented  by  means  of  a 
mapj  a  selection  should  be  made  of  those  parts  of  the  first 
group  which  are  of  critical  importance.  In  most  districts 
there  are  some  very  bad  pieces  of  main  road  which  from 
their  difficulty  have  placed  a  tax  on  all  the  commerce  of 
the  community  since  it  was  founded.  By  annually  devot- 
ing a  certain  share  of  the  money  which  is  applied  to  high- 
ways to  the  effective  improvement  of  these  stumbling- 
blocks  to  travel,  it  is  possible  in  a  decade  greatly  to 
elevate  the  condition  of  the  roads  in  the  neighborhood 
without  either  materially  increasing  the  taxes  or  seriously 
neglecting  the  repairs  of  the  less  important  ways. 

When  the  financial  condition  of  a  community  makes  it 
fit  that  road  construction  should  be  undertaken  more 
rapidly  than  would  be  found  possible  by  the  method 
above  indicated,  it  will  be  well  to  raise  the  money  for  the 
proposed  improvement  either  from  a  special  tax  or  by  a 
loan  to  be  devoted  to  this  particular  use.  With  either  of 
these  methods  the  cost  should  be  distributed  over  a  con- 
siderable term  of  years.  As  already  noted  in  the  preced- 
ing chapters,  the  conditions  determining  road-making 
vary  greatly  in  different  parts  of  this  country.  The 
methods  of  work  have  to  be  adapted  to  these  diverse  cir- 
cumstances if  due  economy  is  to  be  secured.  Very  slight 
differences  in  the  state  of  the  undersoil,  or  in  the  nature 
of  the  stone  used  in  hardening  the  surface,  have  to  be  re- 
garded. It  is  most  desirable  that  experience  as  regards 
these  and  other  critically  important  matters  should  be  ac- 
quired at  the  least  possible  cost  from  mistaken  efforts. 
To  attain  this  end  it  is  necessary  to  avoid  haste  in  im- 
proving the  roads  of  any  country ;  time  needs  to  be  al- 
lowed for  the  results  of  the  first  inevitably  experimental 
essays  to  be  shown. 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION  247 


METHODS  OF  IMASSACHUSETTS  HIGHWAY  COMMISSION 

An  application  of  the  tentative  method  of  highway  con- 
struction was  made  on  a  tolerably  large  scale  by  the  Mas- 
sachusetts commission  in  beginning  the  construction  of 
State  roads  in  that  commonwealth.  Although  there 
seemed  to  be  a  general  demand  that  a  limited  number  of 
main  roads  should  be  undertaken  and  carried  straight 
across  the  State,  the  adoption  of  such  a  policy  would  have 
led  to  building  these  ways  without  sufficient  knowledge  of 
the  conditions  which  were  to  be  encountered,  and  would 
have  involved  many  blunders.  The  commission  chose— 
wisely,  as  the  issue  showed— to  begin  by  building  about 
seventy  pieces  of  roadway,  having  an  average  length  of  a 
mile  each.  These  bits  were  so  placed  in  different  parts  of 
the  State  that,  while  they  would  in  time  fit  into  a  system 
of  State  roads,  they  served  as  tests  as  to  the  suitability  of 
materials  and  methods  to  meet  the  peculiar  needs  of  each 
locality. 

One  of  the  most  important  results  of  the  essays  in  road- 
building  above  noted  is  the  evidence  that  the  hardened 
part  of  the  way,  as  it  is  usually  built  in  this  country  as 
well  as  in  most  parts  of  Europe,  is  much  wider  than  it  is 
necessary  to  have  it.  While  it  is  clearly  desirable  to  have 
the  location  of  a  public  road  in  most  cases  wide  enough 
to  admit  of  sidewalks  and,  it  may  be,  of  an  electric  tram- 
way, the  present  needs  can  often  be  met  in  a  very  satis- 
factory manner  by  ways  not  more  than  from  ten  to  twelve 
feet  in  width,  with  graveled  or  grassed  shoulders  having 
a  width  of  four  feet  on  each  side  of  the  macadamized  strip. 
It  therefore  seems  desirable,  where,  as  is  generally  the 
case,  there  is  need  of  extreme  economy  in  the  construe- 


248  AMERICAN  HiaHWAYS 

tion,  to  build  very  much  narrower  hardened  ways  than 
our  people  are  accustomed  to  accept. 

It  has  recently  been  urged  by  several  writers  that  the 
improvement  of  roads  should  be  undertaken  by  local  so- 
cieties, which,  organized  for  this  specific  purpose,  should 
be  allowed  by  the  local  authorities  to  dispose  of  a  part  of 
the  public  money  which  is  to  be  applied  to  highway  work. 
It  may  be  held,  however,  that,  while  such  associations 
may  well  be  agents  for  stimulating  the  officials  who  are 
responsible  for  building  and  keeping  public  ways,  they 
should  not  have  to  do  with  the  actual  construction.  It  is 
not  to  be  expected  that  any  self-constituted  society  can 
have  the  continuous  life,  the  representative  quahty,  and 
the  other  elements  of  power  which  belong  to  the  body 
politic.  In  that  body  alone,  changed  if  needs  be  as  re- 
gards its  mechanism,  and  stimulated,  as  is  usually  re- 
quired, by  the  urgence  of  good  citizens,  we  must  always 
put  our  trust  for  the  betterment  of  public  affairs.  In 
such  unessential  matters  as  the  decoration  of  roadways 
by  plantations,  etc.,  village  improvement  societies,  or 
those  of  larger  scope,  may  well  act  with  profit. 

EFFECT  OP  METHODS  OP  LOCAL  GOVERNMENT  ON  IMPROVE- 
MENT OP  ROADS 

As  at  present  constituted,  the  government  of  our  rural 
communities  outside  of  New  England  is  not  well  fitted  to 
meet  the  needs  of  our  people  5  this  is  shown  not  only  in 
the  matter  of  highway  work,  but  in  all  the  functions 
which  relate  to  the  care  of  local  interests.  In  New  Eng- 
land the  town  system,  that  in  which  each  community 
governs  itself  by  a  local  parliament,  the  orders  of  which 
are  carried  out  by  the  selectmen,  affords  a  means  whereby 


SUMMAEY  AND  CONCLUSION  249 

the  judgments  and  criticism  of  the  people  can  be  effectively 
applied  to  local  affairs.  It  is  otherwise  with  the  States 
which  lie  to  the  west  and  south  of  the  Hudson  River.  In 
those  communities  the  local  government  is  generally 
effected  by  the  county  system,  with  special  but  imperfect 
arrangements  for  the  care  of  certain  interests  through 
local  boards  for  villages  and  school  districts.  Rarely  is 
there  any  trace  of  the  free  debate  and  immediate  reference 
to  the  people  of  all  questions  which  the  town-meeting 
provides  for.  Our  usual  American  county  system  is  in 
effect  a  very  clumsy  adaptation  of  an  ancient  English 
system  of  administration  which  originated  in  conditions 
totally  different  from  our  own,  and  which  imperatively 
needs  to  be  reformed  before  it  will  be  possible  to  bring 
the  machinery  of  our  rural  government  into  satisfactory 
shape. 

It  is,  perhaps,  not  too  much  to  hope  that  the  value  of 
the  New  England  town  government  may,  by  the  demand 
which  the  movement  toward  bettered  ways  is  making 
for  a  more  effective  method  of  local  government,  induce 
our  people  generally  to  adopt  the  citizens'  parliament.  It 
may  be  noted  in  passing  that  the  changes  in  the  machi- 
nery of  our  States  which  would  be  required  in  order  to  in- 
stitute such  a  plan  of  control  are  not  great,  if  the  intent 
were  limited  to  the  matters  connected  with  roads.  It 
would  probably  be  accomplished  in  most  of  the  States 
without  any  change  in  the  organic  law.  To  attain  the 
end  the  counties  should  be  organized  in  road  districts, 
each  acting  through  a  general  assembly  of  the  voters,  who 
should  elect  their  selectmen.  To  this  executive  board 
should  be  committed  the  expenditure  of  the  money  allotted 
from  the  general  tax-list  of  the  county,  or,  what  would  be 
better,  levied  by  the  district  on  the  property  within  its 

15* 


250  AMERICAN  HiaHWAYS 

limits.  If  a  metliod  of  control  of  highway  business  could 
be  established  on  the  lines  which  have  above  been  indi- 
cated, there  would  be  reason  to  expect  that  in  time  it 
would  be  extended  to  other  affairs.  In  this  manner  it 
may  be  possible  to  implant  parliamentary  local  govern- 
ment in  those  parts  of  the  country  where  it  does  not  exist, 
and  where  there  is  little  chance  for  its  introduction  in  its 
complete  form. 

Where  the  States  of  this  Union  undertake  to  build  the 
main  highways,  it  is  most  desirable,  for  reasons  already 
set  forth,  that  the  work  should  be  done,  not  by  private 
contractors,  but  by  representatives  of  the  people;  for 
where  it  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  such  selectmen  the  task 
will  be  performed  under  conditions  which  favor  the  dis- 
semination of  knowledge  concerning  the  art,  which  makes 
the  work  highly  educative.  It  has  been  most  interesting 
to  see  how  rapidly  the  State  work  in  Massachusetts  has 
developed  a  body  of  men  who  are  able  to  take  charge  of 
road-building  in  at  least  one  method  of  construction. 
When  the  commonwealth  began  to  build  roads  there  were 
no  people,  outside  of  a  few  engineers'  offices,  who  knew 
anything  about  the  business.  It  is  safe  to  reckon  that 
there  are  at  the  present  time  not  less  than  five  hundred 
who  have  taken  a  sufficiently  intelhgent  share  in  the  labor 
to  be  tolerably  well  trained  in  the  routine  part  of  the 
business. 

While  the  conduct  of  work  by  the  State,  provided  the 
tasks  are  done  under  the  direction  of  skiUed  engineers, 
will  serve  to  arouse  popular  interest  in  the  improvement 
of  roads  and  disseminate  knowledge  of  the  art,  thereby 
laying  the  foundations  of  a  better  system,  it  must  not  be 
supposed  that  we  can  trust  to  it  alone.  To  insure  the 
needed  learning  it  will  be  necessary  for  our  schools  where 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION  251 

engineering  is  taught  to  train  experts  in  highway  con- 
struction who  should  be  employed  in  determining  the 
ways  and  means  of  each  improvement.  Not  only  is  it 
necessary  to  have  sound  expert  advice  in  the  choice  and 
methods  of  use  of  the  materials,  but  the  location  of  new 
ways  and  the  modification  of  the  position  of  those  now  in 
use  call  for  a  peculiar  skill. 

Where  a  State  deems  it  inadvisable  to  pay  all  the  costs 
of  the  main  highways  which  it  may  undertake  to  build, 
as  is  likely  to  be  the  case  with  the  greater  number  of  our 
commonwealths,  it  will  still  be  well  for  the  work  of  con- 
struction to  be  in  the  hands  of  a  central  board.  It  has 
been  proposed  that  the  contribution  of  the  State  treasury 
should  be  in  some  way  handed  over  to  local  authorities 
to  expend.  While  this  method  may  be  practicable  after 
a  knowledge  of  road-building  is  sufficiently  diffused,  it 
would  at  present  be  very  ill  fitted  to  the  needs.  The 
most  important  result  arising  from  well-managed  central 
systems  is  that  the  ignorance  of  our  people  in  such  mat- 
ters may  be  broken  down,  and  that  they  may  come  to 
know  of  the  existence  of  a  science  and  art  of  highway- 
building. 

SHARE  OF  THE  FEDERAL  GOVERNMENT 

As  the  road  problem  is  a  matter  of  national  importance, 
it  is  worth  while  to  consider  what  share,  if  any,  the  fed- 
eral government  may  properly  have  in  the  work.  If  wagon 
roads  were  to  any  considerable  extent  the  paths  of  inter- 
state commerce,  or  if  they  were  possibly  to  be  reckoned 
on  for  marching  troops,  there  would  be  good  reason  to 
expect  that  certain,  perhaps  many,  main  ways  would  be 
built  and  maintained  in  whole  or  in  part  at  the  cost  of 


252  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

the  nation.  The  changes  in  the  methods  of  transporta- 
tion which  have  been  effected  during  the  last  half -century 
have  made  ordinary  roads  mere  adjuncts  to  the  railways. 
It  rarely  occurs  that  merchandise  is  wagoned  for  more 
than  thirty  miles.  The  average  distance  of  such  trans- 
portation for  agricultaral  products  is  probably  not  more 
than  about  five  miles.  There  is  no  systematic  communi- 
cation between  the  States  by  ordinary  roads.  In  no  one 
case  is  the  intercourse  between  the  capitals  of  two  of 
these  units  in  the  federal  Union  kept  up  by  the  use  of 
highways.  In  case  of  war,  whether  it  were  internecine 
or  with  a  foreign  power,  all  distant  transportation  would 
commonly  be  accomplished  by  the  railways  or  rivers,  as  it 
was,  indeed,  during  the  RebeEion.  For  short  distances 
armies,  for  the  reason  that  they  are  not  troubled  by  eco- 
nomic considerations,  are  peculiarly  independent  of  the 
conditions  of  the  roadways.  The  ills  they  present  weigh 
alike  on  both  the  combatants.  The  only  point  at  which 
the  federal  system  touches  the  highway  problem  concerns 
the  carriage  of  the  mails. 

An  inspection  of  the  mail-route  maps  wiU  show  that 
the  greater  number  of  the  main  roads  in  the  States  out- 
side of  New  England  are  used  for  transporting  the  mail. 
If  this  use  is  taken  as  a  justification  of  action  from 
Washington,  it  might  be  held  that  from  there  should 
come  the  means  for  the  improvement  of  these  ways.  It 
is  evident,  however,  that,  as  the  mails  with  us  carry  very 
little  merchandise,  being  in  this  regard  different  from 
those  in  several  European  countries,  the  amount  of  trans- 
portation, measured  by  weight,  is  insignificant.  In  al- 
most aU  cases  the  mail-bags  are  carried  in  some  public 
conveyance,  the  service  being  a  mere  adjunct  to  other 
business.     All  that  the  central  government  would  gain 


SUMMAEY  AND  CONCLUSION  253 

by  bettered  roads  would  be  a  somewliat  speedier  transit 
of  the  property  which  it  undertakes  to  deliver.  This  is 
hardly  enough  of  an  advantage  to  warrant  the  institution 
of  a  national  work^  which  would  prove  extremely  costly, 
after  the  manner  of  all  federal  constructions,  and  which 
would  require  an  army  of  public  servants  for  its  adminis- 
tration. However  effected,  the  people  have  in  the  end  to 
pay  for  what  they  get  from  the  powers  above  them.  The 
price  is  the  dearer  the  further  these  powers  are  removed 
from  local  inspection.  It  therefore  does  not  seem  advis- 
able to  seek  federal  aid  in  the  work  of  constructing  our 
ways. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  the  United  States  engineers 
might  well  be  employed  in  time  of  peace— which  we  may 
well  expect  to  be  for  the  greater  part,  if  not  all,  of  their 
lives— in  supervising  the  construction  and  maintenance 
of  highways.  The  objection  to  this  proposition  is  that 
these  selected  men  are  trained  for  a  difficult  and  peculiar 
profession,  one  which  demands  so  much  and  so  varied 
knowledge  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  them  to  add 
the  large  store  of  information  which  the  highway  expert 
has  to  acquire.  Moreover,  the  army  engineer  is  very 
properly  trained  to  accomplish  the  tasks  which  are  in- 
trusted to  him  with  very  little  regard  to  the  cost  of  the 
work,  expense  in  matters  of  national  defense  being  a 
matter  of  very  little  importance.  The  result  of  these 
conditions  of  education  is  that,  while  the  engineering 
corps  of  our  army  is  a  remarkably  able  and  well-trained 
body,  it  is  not  one  to  which  we  may  look  for  the  men 
who  are  to  take  charge  of  works  which  need  to  be  done 
with  the  utmost  economy. 

The  only  way  in  which  the  federal  government  can 
fairly  give  aid  in  the  improvement  of  roads  is  by  the  dis- 


254  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

semination  of  information  concerning  the  form  of  the  sur- 
face of  the  country,  and  the  nature  and  distribution  of  the 
various  materials  which  may  be  used  in  their  construction. 
This  is  in  process  of  doing  by  the  United  States  Geologi- 
cal Survey,  which  by  its  topographical  maps  and  the  re- 
ports based  thereon  is  rapidly  making  a  provision  of 
knowledge  which  will  be  of  distinct  value  to  the  road- 
builder.  To  this  printed  matter  there  might  well  be 
added  reports  on  the  road-building  stones  of  each  im- 
portant district.  It  may  also  be  well  to  provide  a  la- 
boratory in  which  such  materials  could  be  tested  in  the 
manner  noted  in  a  previous  chapter,  so  that  these  deter- 
minations might  have  a  uniform  value  for  all  parts  of  the 
country. 

Among  the  many  suggestions  concerning  the  changes  in 
the  conditions  of  our  highways  which  are  likely  soon  to  be 
brought  about  by  the  progress  of  invention,  there  are  two 
which,  on  account  of  their  evident  importance,  deserve  some 
mention.  The  first  of  these  relates  to  the  probable  effect  of 
the  application  of  some  form  of  mechanical  energy  to  the 
propulsion  of  carriages ;  the  other  to  the  adoption  of  steel 
tramways  for  the  use  of  ordinary  freight- wagons.  Should 
it  come  about  that  power-carriages  displaced  those  drawn 
by  animals,  a  large  part  of  the  difficulties  which  the  road- 
master  has  to  encounter  would  be  obviated.  The  costs  of 
repairs,  so  far  as  is  due  to  the  wearing  action  of  the  shod 
feet,  would  of  course  disappear,  and  at  th^  same  time  the 
need  of  reducing  the  grades  to  a  low  angle  would  probably 
be  less  great  than  it  is  at  present. 

As  for  the  suggestion  that  grooved  steel  rails  might  ad- 
vantageously be  used  in  such  a  way  as  to  afford  a  favor- 
able path  for  heavily  laden  wagons,  it  may  be  said  that  a 
certain  amount  of  experiment  has  been  made  to  this  end, 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION  255 

though  it  has  never  had  a  thoroughgoing  trial.  The  ob- 
jections to  the  method  are  that  it  would  require  all  the 
wagons  going  in  one  direction  to  maintain  the  same  rate 
of  movement,  and  that  the  structure  would  be  exceedingly 
costly.  Such  a  double  track  on  the  average  could  not  well 
be  built  for  less  than  twenty  thousand  dollars  per  mile  j  a 
sum  to  be  reckoned  in  addition  to  that  required  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  ordinary  way  designed  for  the  lighter  vehi- 
cles. It  is  evident  that  a  better  solution  of  the  problem  of 
transporting  freight  is  likely  to  be  found  in  the  use  for 
that  purpose  of  the  electric  tramw^ays  which,  as  before 
noted,  are  likely  to  parallel  every  important  highroad.  If 
this  method  is  used  at  aU,  it  must  be  under  very  exceptional 
conditions. 

The  matter  presented  to  the  reader  in  the  preceding 
pages,  though  it  by  no  means  includes  all  the  considera- 
tions which  relate  to  the  problems  of  road-making  in  this 
country,  is  perhaps  suf&cient  to  show  something  of  the 
importance  of  the  subject.  Owing  to  certain  peculiar 
accidents  of  our  national  history,  ours  is,  of  all  civilized 
lands,  the  most  belated  in  this  element  of  material  and 
social  development.  Our  situation  in  this  regard  is  not 
only,  in  a  way,  disgraceful,  but  it  is  in  high  measure  un- 
fortunate. We  are  undertaking  to  maintain  a  social  and 
economic  order  which  shall  give  the  individual  citizen  a 
measure  of  opportunities  such  as  no  other  country  has 
ever  proposed  to  afford  to  its  people ;  yet  we  lack  the 
most  important  means  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  pur- 
pose, in  that  om^  ways  of  communication  are  not  in  con- 
dition to  serve  our  needs.  It  is  evident  that  something 
like  an  arrest  in  the  development  of  this  country  marks 
the  closing  years  of  the  century.  This  situation  is  doubt- 
less due  to  many  causes,  but  it  is  not  unreasonable  to 


256  AMERICAN  HIGHWAYS 

reckon  among  them  the  excessive  cost  of  all  kinds  of 
work,  which  is  due  to  the  great  transportation  tax  which 
our  people  have  to  bear,  a  burden  which,  so  far  as  our 
agricultural  work  is  concerned,  may  fairly  be  reckoned 
as  greater  than  all  the  other  imposts  they  endure.  It  is 
clearly  the  first  duty  of  statesmanship  to  lighten  this  an- 
cient and  grievous  burden,  and  in  the  effort  for  the  relief 
every  good  citizen  may  fairly  be  expected  to  take  a  will- 
ing share. 


APPENDICES 


APPENDIX  A 

ACTS  OF  THE  LEGISLATURE  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 
RELATING  TO  STATE  HIGHWAYS 

As  the  commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  has  been  for  several  years 
engaged  in  a  systematic  and  extensive  way  in  improving  its  main 
roads,  it  seems  desirable  to  assemble  all  the  important  acts  which 
relate  to  this  work.  These  acts  are  here  for  the  first  time  published 
together. 

Acts  of  1892,  Chapter  338 

an  act  to  establish  a  commission  to  improve  the 
highways  of  this  commonwealth 

Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  as  follows : 

Section  1.  The  governor,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  coun- 
cil, shall,  within  thirty  days  from  the  passage  of  this  act,  appoint 
three  persons,  one  of  whom  shall  be  a  civil  engineer,  whose  term  of 
ofl&ce  shall  expire  on  the  first  Wednesday  of  February  in  the  year 
eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-three,  to  consider  what  legislation  is 
necessary  for  the  better  construction  and  maintenance  of  the  high- 
ways in  this  commonwealth. 

Section  2.  The  said  commission  shall  forthwith  proceed  to  inves- 
tigate and  consider  the  best  and  most  practicable  method  of  construc- 
tion and  maintenance  of  highways,  and  the  estimated  cost  of  the 
various  methods  and  systems ;  the  establishment  of  State  or  county 
highways,  with  recommendations  as  to  their  construction  and  main- 
tenance ;  routes  and  the  approximate  cost ;  also  the  geological  forma- 
tion so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  material  suitable  and  proper  for  road- 
building.  Said  commission  shall  prepare  suitable  maps  and  plans,  on 
which  shall  be  clearly  drawn  the  various  routes  they  recommend. 

259 


260  APPENDICES 

Section  3.  Said  eommission  may  establish  rules  and  regulations 
for  the  conduct  of  its  "business,  and  shall  be  provided  with  suitable 
quarters  by  the  sergeant-at-arms  in  the  state-house  or  elsewhere. 
They  may  employ  experts  and  all  necessary  clerical  and  other  assis- 
tants, and  may  incur  such  reasonable  expenses,  including  traveling 
expenses,  as  may  be  authorized  by  the  governor  and  council.  Before 
incurring  any  expenses  they  shall  from  time  to  time  estimate  the 
amount  required,  and  shall  submit  the  same  to  the  governor  and 
council  for  their  approval ;  and  no  expense  shall  be  incurred  by  the 
commission  beyond  the  amount  so  estimated  and  approved.  Said 
commission  shall  receive  such  compensation  as  the  governor  and 
council  may  decide,  provided  the  whole  amount  expended  under  the 
provisions  of  this  act  shall  not  exceed  ten  thousand  dollars. 

Section  4.  The  county  commissioners,  boards  of  selectmen  and 
aldermen,  and  other  officers  having  authority  over  public  ways, 
roads,  and  bridges  throughout  the  commonwealth,  shall  at  reason- 
able times,  on  request,  furnish  the  commissioners  any  information 
required  by  them  concerning  the  public  ways,  roads,  or  bridges 
within  their  jurisdiction.  The  commissioners  may  furnish  blank 
forms  for  returns  to  be  made  to  them  by  such  officers,  and  may  make 
changes  in  and  additions  to  such  forms. 

Section  5.  The  said  commission  shall  report  fully  with  plans  and 
estimates  and  their  recommendations  to  the  legislature  on  or  before 
the  first  Wednesday  of  February  in  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and 
ninety-three,  and  shall  append  to  its  report  a  draft  of  a  bill  intended 
to  accomplish  the  recommendations  of  the  commission. 

Section  6.  Any  vacancy  in  the  commission  may  be  filled  by  the 
governor,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  council. 

Section  7.  This  act  shall  take  effect  upon  its  passage. 

lApprovedJune  2,  1892.] 


Eesolves  of  1893,  Chapter  45 

resolve  providing  for  printing  the  report  of  the 

commission  to  improve  the  highways 

op  this  commonwealth 

Resolved,  That  there  be  electrotyped,  printed,  and  bound  in  cloth 
five  thousand  copies  of  the  report  of  the  commission  appointed  to 
consider  what  legislation  is  necessary  for  the  better  construction 


APPENDIX  A  261 

and  maintenance  of  the  highways  in  this  commonwealth,  with  ap- 
pendices marked  A,  B,  C,  J),  E,  F,  Gr,  H,  I,  J,  and  K,  containing  the 
statistics  in  tabulated  form  prepared  under  the  direction  of  said 
commission,  to  be  distributed  as  follows :  to  each  member  of  the 
General  Court  ten  copies ;  to  each  member  of  the  executive  depart- 
ments, the  clerks  and  assistant  clerks  of  the  two  branches  of  the 
General  Court,  and  each  reporter  assigned  a  seat  in  either  branch, 
one  copy ;  to  the  State  Library  twenty-five  copies ;  to  the  Massachu- 
setts Historical  Society  and  the  New  England  Historic  Genealogical 
Society  five  copies  each ;  to  each  free  public  library  in  the  common- 
wealth which  is  open  to  the  use  of  the  city  or  town  where  it  is  situ- 
ated one  copy ;  all  of  which  shall  be  distributed  under  the  direction 
of  the  secretary  of  the  commonwealth ;  the  balance  shall  be  placed 
in  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  the  commonwealth  for  public  distri- 
bution. 

^Approved  March  29,  1893.] 


Acts  of  1893,  Chapter  476 

an  act  to  provide  for  the  appointment  of  a  highway 

commission  to  improve  the  public  roads,  and  to 

define  its  powers  and  duties 

Be  it  enacted,  etQ.,  as  follows : 

Section  1.  The  governor,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  coun- 
cil, shall,  within  thirty  days  after  the  passage  of  this  act,  appoint 
three  competent  persons  to  serve  as  the  Massachusetts  Highway 
Commission.  Their  terms  of  office  shall  be  so  arranged  and  desig- 
nated at  the  time  of  their  appointment  that  the  term  of  one  member 
shall  expire  in  three  years,  one  in  two  years,  and  one  in  one  year. 
The  full  term  of  office  thereafter  shall  be  for  three  years,  and  all 
vacancies  occurring  shall  be  filled  by  the  governor,  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  council.  The  members  of  said  board  may  be  re- 
moved by  the  governor,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  council, 
for  such  cause  as  he  shall  deem  sufficient  and  shall  express  in  the 
order  of  removal.  They  shall  each  receive  in  full  compensation  for 
their  services  an  annual  salary  of  two  thousand  dollars,  payable  in 
equal  monthly  instalments,  and  also  their  traveling  expenses.  They 
may  expend  annually  for  clerk  hire,  engineers,  and  for  defraying 
expenses  incidental  to  and  necessary  for  the  performance  of  their 

16 


262  APPENDICES 

duties,  exclusive  of  office  rent,  the  sum  of  two  thousand  dollars. 
They  shall  be  provided  with  an  office  in  the  state-house,  or  some 
other  suitable  place  in  the  city  of  Boston,  in  which  the  records  of 
their  office  shall  be  kept.  They  may  establish  rules  and  regulations 
for  the  conduct  of  business  and  for  carrying  out  the  provisions  of 
this  act. 

Section  2.  They  shall  from  time  to  time  compile  statistics  relating 
to  the  public  roads  of  cities,  towns,  and  counties,  and  make  such 
investigations  relating  thereto  as  they  shall  deem  expedient.  They 
may  be  consulted  at  all  reasonable  times  without  charge  by  officers 
of  counties,  cities,  or  towns  having  the  care  of  and  authority  over 
public  roads,  and  shall  without  charge  advise  them  relative  to  the 
construction,  repair,  alteration,  or  maintenance  of  the  same ;  but 
advice  given  by  them  to  any  such  officers  shall  not  impair  the  legal 
duties  and  obligations  of  any  county,  city,  or  town.  They  shall  pre- 
13are  a  map  or  maps  of  the  commonwealth  on  which  shall  be  shown 
county,  city,  and  town  boundaries,  and  also  the  public  roads,  par- 
ticularly the  State  highways,  giving  when  practicable  the  names  of 
the  same.  They  shall  collect  and  collate  information  concerning  the 
geological  formation  of  this  commonwealth  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the 
material  suitable  and  proper  for  road-building,  and  shall,  so  far  as 
practicable,  designate  on  said  map  or  maps  the  location  of  such  ma- 
terial. Such  map  or  maps  shall  at  all  reasonable  times  be  open  for 
the  inspection  of  officers  of  counties,  cities,  and  towns  having  the 
care  of  and  authority  over  public  roads.  They  shall  each  year  hold 
at  least  one  public  meeting  in  each  county  for  the  open  discussion 
of  questions  relating  to  the  public  roads,  due  notice  of  which  shall 
be  given  in  the  press  or  otherwise. 

Section  3.  They  shall  make  an  annual  report  to  the  legislature  of 
their  doings  and  the  expenditures  of  their  office,  together  with  such 
statements,  facts,  and  explanations  bearing  upon  the  construction 
and  maintenance  of  public  roads,  and  such  suggestions  and  recom- 
mendations as  to  the  general  policy  of  the  commonwealth  in  respect 
to  the  same,  as  may  seem  to  them  appropriate.  Their  report  shall 
be  transmitted  to  the  secretary  of  the  commonwealth  on  or  before 
the  first  Wednesday  in  January  of  each  year,  to  be  laid  before  the 
legislature.  All  maps,  plans,  and  statistics  collected  and  compiled 
under  their  direction  shall  be  preserved  in  their  office. 

Section  4.  County  commissioners  and  city  and  town  officers  having 
the  care  of  and  authority  over  public  roads  and  bridges  throughout 


APPENDIX  A  263 

the  commonwealth  shall,  on  request,  furnish  the  commissioners  any 
information  required  by  them  concerning  the  roads  and  bridges  within 
their  jurisdiction. 

Section  5.  For  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  this 
act,  said  commission  may  expend  such  sums  for  necessary  assistants, 
the  procuring  of  necessary  supplies,  instruments,  material,  machi- 
nery, and  other  property,  and  for  the  construction  and  maintenance 
of  State  highways,  as  shall  from  time  to  time  be  appropriated  by  the 
legislature ;  and  they  shall  in  their  annual  report  state  what  sums 
they  deem  necessary  for  the  year  commencing  with  the  first  day  of 
March  following. 

Section  6.  Whenever  the  county  commissioners  of  a  county  ad- 
judge that  the  common  necessity  and  convenience  require  that  the 
commonwealth  acquire  as  a  State  highway  a  new  or  an  existing  road 
in  that  county,  they  may  apply  by  petition  in  wi'iting  to  the  Massa- 
chusetts Highway  Commission,  stating  the  road  they  recommend,  and 
setting  forth  a  detailed  description  of  said  road  by  metes  and  bounds, 
together  with  a  plan  and  profile  of  the  same.  Said  commission  shall 
consider  such  petition,  and  if  they  adjudge  that  it  ought  to  be  allowed, 
they  shall  in  writing  so  notify  said  county  commissioners.  It  shall 
then  become  the  duty  of  said  county  commissioners  to  cause  said 
road  to  be  surveyed  and  laid  out  in  the  manner  provided  for  the 
laying  out  and  alteration  of  highways,  the  entire  expense  thereof  to 
be  borne  and  paid  by  said  county.  Said  county  commissioners  shall 
preserve  a  copy  of  such  petition,  plans,  and  profiles,  with  their  rec- 
ords, for  public  inspection.  When  said  commission  shall  be  satis- 
fied that  said  county  commissioners  have  properly  surveyed  and  laid 
out  said  road,  and  set  in  place  suitable  monuments,  and  have  fur- 
nished said  commission  with  plans  and  profiles,  on  which  shall  be 
shown  such  monuments  and  established  grades,  in  accordance  with 
the  rules  and  regulations  of  said  commission,  said  commission  may 
approve  the  same,  and  so  notify  in  writing  said  county  commissioners. 
Said  commission  shall  then  present  a  certified  copy  of  said  petition, 
on  which  their  approval  shall  be  indicated,  together  with  their  esti- 
mates for  constructing  said  road  and  the  estimated  annual  cost  for 
maintaining  the  same,  to  the  secretary  of  the  commonwealth,  who 
shall  at  once  lay  the  same  before  the  legislature  if  it  is  in  session ; 
otherwise  on  the  second  Wednesday  of  January  following.  If  the 
legislature  makes  appropriation  for  constructing  said  road,  said  com- 
mission shall  cause  said  road  to  be  constructed  in  accordance  with 


264  APPENDICES 

this  act,  and  when  completed  and  approved  by  them  said  road  shall 
become  a  State  highway  and  thereafter  be  maintained  by  the  com- 
monwealth under  the  supervision  of  said  commission. 

Section  7.  Two  or  more  cities  or  towns  may  petition  the  said 
commission,  representing  that  in  their  opinion  the  common  necessity 
and  convenience  require  that  the  commonwealth  should  acquire  as  a 
State  highway  a  new  or  an  existing  road  leading  from  one  city  or 
town  to  another,  which  petition  shall  be  accompanied  by  a  detailed 
description  of  such  road  by  metes  and  bounds,  and  also  a  plan  and 
profile  of  the  same.  If  said  commission  adjudge  that  the  common 
necessity  and  convenience  require  such  road  to  be  laid  out  and  ac- 
quired as  a  State  highway,  they  shall  cause  a  copy  of  said  petition, 
on  which  shall  be  their  finding,  to  be  given  to  the  county  commis- 
sioners of  the  county  in  which  said  road  or  any  portion  of  it  lies.  It 
shall  then  become  the  duty  of  the  county  commissioners,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  county,  to  cause  said  road  to  be  surveyed  and  laid  out, 
and  to  set  in  place  suitable  monuments,  and  to  cause  a  detailed  de- 
scription by  metes  and  bounds,  plans  and  profiles,  to  be  made,  on 
which  shall  be  shown  said  monuments  and  established  grades,  and 
to  give  the  same  to  said  commission ;  but  said  county  commissioners 
shall  have  the  right  to  change  the  line  of  said  road,  provided  the 
termini  are  substantially  the  same.  Said  county  commissioners  shall 
preserve  said  petition  and  a  copy  of  the  plans  and  profiles,  with  their 
records,  for  public  inspection.  When  said  commission  shall  be  sat- 
isfied that  the  county  commissioners  have  properly  surveyed  and  laid 
out  said  road  and  set  in  place  suitable  monuments,  and  have  furnished 
them  with  plans  and  profiles  on  which  shall  be  shown  said  monuments 
and  established  grades,  in  accordance  with  the  rules  and  regulations 
of  said  commission,  they  shall  then  proceed  in  the  same  manner  as 
provided  in  section  six  of  this  act ;  and  when  said  road  is  completed 
and  approved  by  said  commission,  it  shall  become  a  State  highway, 
and  thereafter  be  maintained  by  the  commonwealth  under  the  super- 
vision of  said  commission. 

Section  8.  In  all  cases  where  a  highway  is  to  be  constructed  at 
the  expense  of  the  commonwealth  as  a  State  highway,  all  the  grading 
necessary  to  make  said  highway  of  the  established  grade,  and  the 
construction  of  culverts  and  bridges,  shall  be  paid  for  by  the  county 
or  counties,  respectively,  in  which  said  highway  or  any  portion  of  it 
lies,  and  the  work  must  be  done  to  the  satisfaction  of  said  commis- 
sion.   No  action  by  a  person  claiming  damage  for  the  taking  of  land 


APPENDIX  A  265 

or  change  of  grade  Tinder  the  provisions  of  this  act  shall  be  com- 
menced against  a  county  until  said  commission  has  taken  possession 
for  the  purpose  of  constructing  such  State  highway. 

Section  9.  When  appropriation  has  been  made  by  the  legislature 
for  the  construction  of  a  State  highway,  said  commission  shall  at 
once  cause  plans  and  specifications  to  be  made,  and  estimate  the  cost 
of  the  construction  of  such  State  highway,  and  give  to  each  city  and 
town  in  which  said  road  lies  a  certified  copy  of  said  plans  and  speci- 
fications, with  a  notice  that  said  commission  is  ready  for  the  con- 
struction of  said  road.  Such  city  or  town  shall  have  the  right, 
without  advertisement,  to  contract  with  said  commission  for  the 
construction  of  so  much  of  such  highway  as  lies  within  its  limits,  in 
accordance  with  the  plans  and  specifications  of  the  commission  and 
under  its  supervision  and  subject  to  its  approval,  at  a  price  agreed 
upon  between  said  commission  and  said  city  or  town ;  but  such  price 
agreed  upon  shall  not  exceed  eighty-five  per  cent,  of  the  original 
estimate  of  said  commission.  If  such  city  or  town  shall  within  thirty 
days  not  elect  to  so  contract,  said  commission  may  advertise  in  one 
or  more  papers  published  in  the  county  where  the  road  or  portion  of 
it  is  situated,  and  in  one  or  more  papers  published  in  Boston,  for  bids 
for  the  construction  of  said  highway,  in  accordance  with  the  plans 
and  specifications  furnished  by  said  commission  and  under  their 
supervision  and  subject  to  their  approval.  Said  commission  shall 
have  the  right  to  reject  any  and  all  bids,  and  they  shall  require  of 
the  contractor  a  bond  for  at  least  ten  thousand  dollars  for  each  mile 
of  road,  to  indemnify  such  city  or  town  in  which  such  highway  lies 
against  damage  while  such  road  is  being  constructed,  and  the  com- 
monwealth shall  not  be  liable  for  any  damage  occasioned  thereby. 
Said  commission  shall  make  and  sign  all  contracts  in  the  name  of 
the  Massachusetts  Highway  Commission. 

Section  10.  For  the  maintenance  of  State  highways  said  commis- 
sion shall  contract  with  the  city  or  town  in  which  such  State  highway 
lies,  or  a  person,  firm,  or  corporation,  for  the  keeping  in  repair  and 
maintaining  of  such  highway,  in  accordance  with  the  rules  and  regu- 
lations of  said  commission  and  subject  to  their  supervision  and 
approval,  and  such  contracts  may  be  made  without  previous  adver- 
tisement. 

Section  11.  All  contracts  made  by  or  with  the  Massachusetts 
Highway  Commission  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  shall  be  subject 
to  the  approval  of  the  governor  and  council. 


266  APPENDICES 

Section  12.  No  length  of  possession  or  occupancy  of  land  within 
the  limit  of  any  State  highway  by  an  owner  or  occupier  of  adjoining 
land  shall  create  a  right  to  such  land  in  any  adjoining  owner  or  oc- 
cupant or  a  person  claiming  under  him ;  and  any  fences,  buildings, 
sheds,  or  other  obstructions  encroaching  upon  such  State  highway 
shall,  upon  written  notice  by  said  commission,  at  once  be  removed 
by  the  owner  or  occupier  of  adjoining  land,  and  if  not  so  removed 
said  commission  may  cause  the  same  to  be  done  and  may  remove  the 
same  upon  the  adjoining  land  of  such  owner  or  occupier. 

Section  13.  The  commonwealth  shall  be  liable  for  injuries  to 
persons  or  property  occurring  through  a  defect  or  want  of  repair  or 
of  sufficient  railing  in  or  upon  a  State  highway. 

Section  14.  Cities  and  towns  shall  have  police  jurisdiction  over 
all  State  highways,  and  they  shall  at  once  notify  in  writing  the  State 
commission  or  its  employees  of  any  defect  or  want  of  repair  in  such 
highways.  No  State  highway  shall  be  dug  up  for  laying  or  placing 
pipes,  sewers,  posts,  wires,  railways,  or  other  purposes,  and  no  tree 
shall  be  planted  or  removed  or  obstruction  placed  thereon,  except  by 
the  written  consent  of  the  superintendent  of  streets  or  road  commis- 
sioners of  a  city  or  town,  approved  by  the  Highway  Commission, 
and  then  only  in  accordance  with  the  rules  and  regulations  of  said 
commission ;  and  in  all  eases  the  work  shall  be  executed  under  the 
supervision  and  to  the  satisfaction  of  said  commission,  and  the  entire 
expense  of  replacing  the  highway  in  as  good  condition  as  before  shall 
be  paid  by  the  parties  to  whom  the  consent  was  given  or  by  whom 
the  work  was  done ;  but  a  city  or  town  shall  have  the  right  to  dig  up 
such  State  highway  without  such  approval  of  the  Highway  Commis- 
sion where  immediate  necessity  demands  it,  but  in  all  such  eases 
such  highway  shall  be  at  once  replaced  in  as  good  condition  as  be- 
fore and  at  the  expense  of  the  city  or  town.  Said  commission  shall 
give  suitable  names  to  the  State  highways,  and  they  shall  have  the 
right  to  change  the  name  of  any  road  that  shall  have  become  a  part 
of  a  State  highway.  They  shall  cause  to  be  erected  at  convenient 
points  along  State  highways  suitable  guide-posts. 

Section  15.  The  word  "road"  as  used  in  this  act  includes  every 
thoroughfare  which  the  public  has  a  right  to  use. 

Section  16.  This  act  shall  take  effect  upon  its  passage. 

\_Approved  June  10,  1893.] 


APPENDIX  A  267 

Acts  of  1894,  Chapter  497 
an  act  relating  to  state  highways 

Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  as  follows : 

Section  1.  Whenever  tlie  county  commissioners  of  a  county,  or 
the  mayor  and  aldermen  of  a  city,  or  the  selectmen  of  a  town,  ad- 
judge that  the  public  necessity  and  convenience  require  that  the 
commonwealth  take  charge  of  a  new  or  an  existing  road  as  a  high- 
way, in  whole  or  in  part,  in  that  county,  city,  or  town,  they  may 
apply  by  a  petition  in  writing  to  the  Massachusetts  Highway  Com- 
mission, stating  the  road  they  recommend,  together  with  a  plan  and 
profile  of  the  same. 

Section  2.  Said  Highway  Commission  shall  consider  such  petition 
and  determine  what  the  public  necessity  and  convenience  require  in 
the  premises,  and  if  they  deem  that  the  highway  should  be  laid  out 
or  be  taken  charge  of  by  the  commonwealth  shall  file  a  plan  thereof 
in  the  of6.ce  of  the  county  commissioners  of  the  county  in  which  the 
petitioners  reside,  with  the  petition  therefor  and  a  certificate  that 
they  have  laid  out  and  taken  charge  of  said  highway,  in  accordance 
with  said  plan,  and  shall  file  a  copy  of  the  plan  and  location  of  the 
portion  lying  in  each  city  or  town  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  said 
city  or  town ;  and  said  highway  shall,  after  the  filing  of  said  plans, 
be  laid  out  as  a  highway  and  shall  be  constructed  and  kept  in  good 
repair  and  condition  as  a  highway  by  said  commission,  at  the  expense 
of  the  commonwealth,  and  shall.be  known  as  a  State  road,  and  there- 
after be  maintained  by  the  commonwealth  under  the  supervision  of 
said  commission.  And  all  openings  and  placing  of  structures  in  any 
such  road  shall  be  done  in  accordance  with  a  permit  from  said  com- 
mission. 

Section  3.  The  damages  sustained  by  any  person  whose  property 
is  taken  for  or  is  injured  by  the  construction  of  any  such  highway 
shall  be  paid  by  the  commonwealth,  the  same  to  be  determined  by 
said  commission.  And  if  said  commission  and  the  person  sustaining 
the  damages  cannot  agree  thereon,  he  or  they  may  have  said  damages 
determined  by  a  jury  in  the  county  in  which  the  land  is  situated,  by 
filing  a  petition  for  such  jury  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  superior 
court  for  said  county  at  any  time  before  the  expiration  of  one  year 
from  the  completion  of  said  highway,  and  thereupon  said  damages 
shall  be  determined  by  a  jury  at  the  bar  of  said  court,  in  the  same 


268  APPENDICES 

manner  as  damages  for  the  taking  of  land  for  other  highways  in  the 
county,  city,  or  town  are  determined ;  and  costs  shall  be  taxed  to  the 
prevailing  party  on  such  petition,  as  in  civil  cases. 

Section  4.  Said  commission  shall,  when  about  to  construct  any 
highway,  give  to  each  city  and  town  in  which  said  highway  lies  a 
certified  copy  of  the  plans  and  specifications  for  said  highway,  with 
a  notice  that  said  commission  is  ready  for  the  construction  of  said 
road.  Such  city  or  town  shall  have  the  right,  without  advertisement, 
to  contract  with  said  commission  for  the  construction  of  so  much  of 
such  highway  as  lies  within  its  limits,  in  accordance  with  the  plans 
and  specifications  and  under  its  supervision  and  subject  to  its  ap- 
proval, at  a  price  agreed  upon  between  said  commission  and  said 
city  or  town.  If  said  city  or  town  shall  not  elect  to  so  contract 
within  thirty  days,  said  commission  shall  advertise  in  two  or  more 
papers  published  in  the  county  where  the  road  or  portion  of  it  is 
situated,  and  in  three  or  more  daily  papers  published  in  Boston,  for 
bids  for  the  construction  of  said  highway  under  their  supervision 
and  subject  to  their  approval,  in  accordance  with  plans  and  specifi- 
cations to  be  furnished  by  said  commission.  Such  advertisement 
shall  state  the  time  and  place  for  opening  the  proposals  in  answer  to 
said  advertisements,  and  reserve  the  right  to  reject  any  and  all  pro- 
posals. All  such  proposals  shall  be  sealed  and  shall  be  kept  by  the 
board,  and  shall  be  open  to  public  inspection  after  said  proposals 
have  been  accepted  or  rejected.  Said  commission  may  reject  any  or 
all  bids,  or  if  a  bid  is  satisfactory  they  shall,  with  the  approval  of  the 
governor  and  council,  make  a  contract  in  writing  on  behalf  of  the 
commonwealth  for  said  construction,  and  shall  require  the  contractor 
to  give  a  bond  for  at  least  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  contract  price 
to  indemnify  any  city  or  town  in  which  such  highway  lies  against 
damage  while  such  road  is  being  constructed,  and  the  commonwealth 
shall  not  be  liable  for  any  damage  occasioned  thereby.  All  construc- 
tion of  State  roads  shall  be  fairly  apportioned  by  said  commission 
among  the  different  counties,  and  not  more  than  ten  miles  of  State 
road  shall  be  constructed  in  any  one  county  in  any  one  year  on 
petition,  as  aforesaid,  without  the  previous  approval  thereof  in  writ- 
ing by  the  governor  and  council. 

Section  5.  One  quarter  of  any  money  expended  under  the  provi- 
sions of  this  act  in  any  county  for  a  highway,  with  interest  on  said 
quarter  at  the  rate  of  three  per  cent,  per  annum,  shall  be  repaid  by 
said  county  to  the  commonwealth  in  such  reasonable  sums  and  at 


APPENDIX  A  269 

such  times  within  six  years  thereafter  as  said  commission,  with  the 
approval  of  the  State  auditor,  shall  determine,  taking  into  considera- 
tion the  financial  condition  of  the  county ;  and  the  treasurer  and  re- 
ceiver-general shall  apply  all  money  so  repaid  to  the  appropriation 
to  be  expended  by  said  commission.  The  county  treasurer,  with  the 
approval  of  the  county  commissioners,  may  make  such  loans  as  they 
may  see  fit  to  meet  this  expenditure. 

Section  6.  Any  city  or  town  in  which  a  State  highway  is  situated 
shall  be  liable  for  injuries  to  persons  traveling  upon  a  State  highway 
the  same  as  upon  other  highways,  but  the  amount  actually  recovered 
as  damages  for  such  injuries  shall  be  repaid  within  one  year  there- 
after to  such  city  or  town  by  the  commonwealth.  A  city  or  town 
may  make  temporary  necessary  repairs  of  a  State  highway  without 
the  approval  of  said  commission. 

Section  7.  Said  commission  shall  keep  all  State  roads  reasonably 
out  of  brush,  and  shall  cause  suitable  shade-trees  to  be  set  out  along 
said  highways  when  feasible,  and  shall  renew  the  same  when  neces- 
sary, and  may  also  establish  and  maintain  watering-troughs  at  suit- 
able places  along  said  highways. 

Section  8.  For  the  purpose  of  meeting  any  expenses  that  may  be 
incurred  under  the  provisions  of  chapter  four  hundred  and  seventy- 
six  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-three,  as 
hereby  amended,  including  the  salaries  and  expenses  of  the  commis- 
sion, the  treasurer  and  receiver-general  is  hereby  authorized,  with 
the  approval  of  the  governor  and  council,  to  issue  scrip  or  certificates 
of  indebtedness  to  an  amount  not  exceeding  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  for  a  term  not  exceeding  thirty  years.  Said  scrip  or  certifi- 
cates of  indebtedness  shall  be  issued  as  registered  bonds  or  with  in- 
terest coupons  attached,  and  shall  bear  interest  not  exceeding  four 
per  centum  per  annum,  payable  semi-annually  on  the  first  days  of 
April  and  October  in  each  year.  Such  scrip  or  certificates  of  in- 
debtedness shall  be  designated  on  their  face  as  the  State  Highway 
Loan,  shall  be  countersigned  by  the  governor,  and  shall  be  deemed 
a  pledge  of  faith  and  credit  of  the  commonwealth,  and  the  principal 
and  interest  shall  be  paid  at  the  times  specified  therein  in  gold  coin 
of  the  United  States  or  its  equivalent ;  and  said  scrip  or  certificates 
of  indebtedness  shall  be  sold  and  disposed  of  at  public  auction,  or  in 
such  other  mode,  and  at  such  times  and  prices,  and  in  such  amounts, 
and  at  such  rates  of  interest,  not  exceeding  the  rate  above  specified, 
as  shall  be  deemed  best.     The  treasurer  and  receiver-general  shall. 


270  APPENDICES 

on  issuing  any  of  said  scrip  or  certificates  of  indebtedness,  establish 
a  sinking-fund  for  the  payment  of  said  bonds,  into  which  shall  be 
paid  any  premiums  received  on  the  sale  of  said  bonds,  and  he  shall 
apportion  thereto  from  year  to  year,  in  addition,  amounts  sufficient 
with  the  accumulations  to  extinguish  at  maturity  the  debt  incurred 
by  the  issue  of  said  bonds.  The  amount  necessary  to  meet  the  annual 
sinking-fund  requirements  and  to  pay  the  interest  on  said  bonds  shall 
be  raised  by  taxation  from  year  to  year. 

Section  9.  Sections  six,  seven,  eight,  nine,  eleven,  and  thirteen 
of  chapter  four  hundred  and  seventy-six  of  the  acts  of  the  year 
eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-three  are  hereby  repealed. 

Section  10.  This  act  shall  take  effect  upon  its  passage. 

lApproved  June  20,  1894.] 


Acts  of  1895,  Chapter  92 
AN  act  making  appropriations  for  expenses  of  the 

MASSACHUSETTS  HIGHWAY  COMMISSION 

Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  asfolloivs : 

Section  1.  The  sums  hereinafter  mentioned  are  appropriated  to 
be  paid  out  of  the  State  Highway  Loan  fund,  to  meet  expenses  of  the 
Massachusetts  Highway  Commission  for  the  year  ending  on  the 
thirty-first  day  of  December  in  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and 
ninety-five,  to  wit : 

For  rent  of  office,  including  care,  heating  and  lighting  the  same,  a 
sum  not  exceeding  one  thousand  dollars,  this  amount  being  in  addi- 
tion to  the  sum  heretofore  appropriated  for  rent  in  an  act  passed  the 
present  year. 

For  the  salaries  of  clerks  and  such  clerical  assistance  as  said  com- 
mission may  find  necessary,  a  sum  not  exceeding  five  thousand 
dollars. 

For  the  salary  of  the  chief  engineer,  a  sum  not  exceeding  three 
thousand  dollars. 

For  incidental  and  contingent  expenses  of  said  commission,  a  sum 
not  exceeding  fifteen  hundred  dollars. 

For  traveling  expenses  of  said  commission,  a  sum  not  exceeding 
fifteen  hundred  dollars. 

For  expenses  in  connection  with  surveys  of  roads  for  the  purpose 


APPENDIX  A  271 

of  laying  out  and  building  State  highways,  a  sum  not  exceeding  ten 
thousand  dollars. 

Section  2.  This  act  shall  take  effect  upon  its  passage. 

lA])j)roved  March  7,  1895.] 

Acts  of  1895,  Chapter  347 
an  act  relative  to  the  construction  of  state  highways 

Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  asfollotcs : 

Section  1.  The  Massachusetts  Highway  Commission  is  hereby 
authorized  to  expend  a  sum  not  exceeding  four  hundred  thousand 
dollars  for  the  construction  of  State  highways  during  the  current 
year,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  chapter  four  hundred  and 
seventy-six  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-three, 
and  chapter  four  hundred  and  ninety-seven  of  the  acts  of  the  year 
eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-four. 

Section  2.  No  persons  except  citizens  of  this  commonwealth  shall 
be  employed  on  the  work  authorized  by  this  act. 

Section  3.  For  the  purpose  of  meeting  any  expenses  which  may 
be  incurred  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  the  treasurer  and  re- 
ceiver-general is  hereby  authorized,  with  the  approval  of  the  governor 
and  council,  to  issue  scrip  or  certificates  of  indebtedness  to  an  amount 
not  exceeding  four  hundred  thousand  dollars,  for  a  term  not  exceed- 
ing thirty  years.  Said  scrip  or  certificates  of  indebtedness  shall  be 
issued  as  registered  bonds  or  with  interest  coupons  attached,  and 
shall  bear  interest  not  exceeding  four  per  cent,  per  annum,  payable 
semi-annually  on  the  first  days  of  April  and  October  in  each  year. 
Such  scrip  or  certificates  of  indebtedness  shall  be  designated  on  their 
face  as  the  State  Highway  Loan,  shall  be  countersigned  by  the 
governor,  and  shall  be  deemed  the  pledge  of  the  faith  and  credit  of 
the  commonwealth,  and  the  principal  and  interest  thereof  shall  be 
paid  at  the  times  specified  therein  in  gold  coin  of  the  United  States 
or  its  equivalent ;  and  said  scrip  or  certificates  of  indebtedness  shall 
be  sold  and  disposed  of  at  public  auction,  or  in  such  other  manner, 
at  such  times  and  prices,  in  such  amounts,  and  at  such  rates  of  in- 
terest, not  exceeding  the  rate  above  specified,  as  shall  be  deemed 
best.  The  sinking-fund  established  by  chapter  four  hundred  and 
ninety-seven  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-four 
shall  also  be  maintained  for  the  purpose  of  extinguishing  bonds  issued 


272  APPENDICES 

under  the  authority  of  this  act,  and  the  treasurer  and  receiver-general 
shall  apportion  thereto  from  year  to  year  an  amount  sufficient  with  the 
accumulations  of  said  fund  to  extinguish  at  maturity  the  debt  in- 
curred by  the  issue  of  said  bonds.  The  amount  necessary  to  meet 
the  annual  sinking-fund  requirements  and  to  pay  the  interest  on 
said  bonds  shall  be  raised  by  taxation  from  year  to  year. 
Section  4.  This  act  shall  take  effect  upon  its  passage. 

lA2)])rovecl  May  1,  1895.] 

Acts  of  1895,  Chapter  486 

an  act  relative  to  the  construction  op  macadamized 
roads  in  towns 

Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  as  follows : 

Section  1.  When  a  town  of  not  less  than  ten  thousand  inhabitants, 
or  not  less  than  two  nor  more  than  five  adjoining  towns  whose  com- 
bined population  does  not  exceed  twelve  thousand,  vote  at  a  town 
meeting  to  expend  not  less  than  three  thousand  dollars  per  year  each 
year  for  the  term  of  five  years  in  the  case  of  a  single  town,  or  four 
thousand  dollars  each  year  for  the  term  of  five  years  when  not  less 
than  two  nor  more  than  five  towns  unite  together,  for  macadamized 
roads,  the  commonwealth  shall  furnish  out  of  the  State  Highway 
Loan  authorized  by  chapter  three  hundred  and  forty-seven  of  the  acts 
of  the  present  year,  through  the  Massachusetts  Highway  Commission, 
to  such  town  or  towns,  free  of  charge,  a  steam  road-roller  of  approved 
pattern  and  suitable  size,  for  the  sole  use  of  such  town  or  towns 
during  said  five  years  and  as  long  thereafter  as  they  continue  to  ex- 
pend not  less  than  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  above-mentioned  sum  on 
macadamized  roads  each  year;  provided,  nevertheless,  that  if  said 
town  or  towns  fail  to  expend  said  sum  for  macadamized  roads  in  any 
one  year,  said  road-roller  shall  then  revert  to  the  commonwealth. 
Said  town  or  towns  shall  keep  said  roller  in  good  repair. 

Section  2.  When  not  less  than  two  nor  more  than  five  towns  use 
a  roller  jointly,  the  town  voting  the  largest  proportion  of  the  re- 
quired sum  shall  have  the  first  chance  as  to  the  time  of  using  it,  and 
may  retain  possession  of  it  each  year  for  a  length  of  time  propor- 
tionate to  the  sum  voted  by  said  town.  The  six  months  between  the 
first  day  of  May  and  the  first  day  of  November  in  each  year  shall  be 
deemed  the  proper  period  for  macadamizing  roads. 


APPENDIX  A  273 

Section  3.  The  Massachusetts  Highway  Commission  shall  not 
expend  more  than  nine  thousand  dollars  in  carrying  out  the  provi- 
sions of  this  act  during  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-five. 

Section  4.  This  act  shall  take  effect  upon  its  passage. 

^Approved  June  5,  1895.] 


Resolves  of  1896,  Chapter  33 
resolve  to  provide  for  printing  extra  copies  of  the 

report    of   the   MASSACHUSETTS   HIGHWAY 
COMMISSION 

Resolved,  That  three  thousand  extra  copies  of  the  third  annual  re- 
port of  the  Massachusetts  Highway  Commission  be  printed  and  bound 
in  cloth.  Out  of  the  number  so  printed  each  member  of  the  present 
General  Court  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  ten  copies,  and  the  residue 
shall  be  distributed  under  the  direction  of  the  commission. 

lApproved  March  25,  1896.] 


Resolves  op  1896,  Chapter  86 

resolve  RELATIVE  TO  A  STATE  HIGHWAY  BETWEEN  THE  CITY 
OF  BOSTON  AND  THE  CITY  OF  NEWBURYPORT 

Resolved,  That  the  Massachusetts  Highway  Commission  consider 
the  expediency  of  laying  out  a  State  highway  between  the  city  of 
Boston  and  the  city  of  Salem  or  the  city  of  Newburyport,  over  the 
shore  route,  so  called,  which  route  may  be  described  substantially  as 
follows : 

Starting  from  the  south  ferry,  at  Lewis  street,  in  Boston,  thence 
through  Lewis  street  to  Maverick  Square,  thence  through  Maverick 
Square  to  Chelsea  street,  thence  over  Chelsea  street  to  Bennington 
street,  thence  over  Bennington  street  to  Orient  Heights,  thence  over 
the  main  traveled  road  to  the  town  of  Revere,  continuing  on  the  main 
road  to  Beachmont,  continuing  over  the  main  traveled  road,  known 
as  Ocean  Avenue,  along  the  ocean  front  to  the  Point  of  Pines,  cross- 
ing the  Saugus  River  on  the  easterly  side  of  the  Boston,  Revere 
Beach,  and  Lynn  Railroad,  and  running  to  the  south  end  of  Sea 
street  in  Lynn,  thence  through  Sea  street  to  Broad  street,  thence 
through  Broad  street  to  Lewis  street,  thence  through  Lewis  street  to 


274  APPENDICES 

New  Ocean  street,  thence  tlirougli  New  Ocean  street  to  the  town  of 
Swampscott,  thence  through  New  Ocean  street,  in  Swampscott,  to 
the  junction  of  Burrill  street  and  Paradise  road,  thence  over  Paradise 
road  to  the  northeast  end  of  said  road,  thence  through  Paradise 
Woods  on  nearly  a  straight  line  to  Vinin  Square,  at  the  junction  of 
the  towns  of  Swampscott  and  Marblehead  and  the  city  of  Salem, 
thence  northerly  to  Loring  Avenue  in  the  city  of  Salem,  thence  over 
Loring  Avenue  to  Lafayette  street,  thence  over  Lafayette  street  to 
Central  street,  thence  over  Central  street  to  Essex  street,  thence 
through  Salem  to  and  over  Beverly  Bridge,  thence  through  the  city 
of  Beverly,  and  thence  to  Newburyport,  using  the  present  traveled 
roads  as  far  as  may  be,  with  such  additions  of  new  road  as  may  be 
necessary.  Said  Massachusetts  Highway  Commission  shall  report  to 
the  next  General  Court  the  probable  cost  of  such  a  highway,  with  such 
other  information  as  may  be  obtained  in  relation  thereto,  on  or  be- 
fore the  thirty-first  day  of  January  in  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and 

ninety-seven. 

lAjjproved  April  28,  1896.] 

Acts  of  1896,  Chapter  345 
an  act  relative  to  state  highways 

Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  as  follows  : 

Section  1.  "When  a  highway  is  laid  out  as  a  State  road,  the  Massa- 
chusetts Highway  Commission  shall  construct  and  maintain  that 
portion  of  the  way  between  the  inside  lines  of  sidewalks  upon  either 
side.  The  sidewalks  of  said  road  may  be  constructed  and  maintained 
in  accordance  with  the  public  statutes  and  amendments  thereto,  and 
the  provisions  of  section  six  of  chapter  four  hundred  and  ninety-seven 
of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-four  shall  only 
apply  to  that  portion  of  the  way  between  the  inside  lines  of  sidewalks. 
The  inside  lines  of  sidewalks  referred  to  in  this  section  are  those 
lines  which  are  nearest  to  the  center  of  the  highway. 

Section  2.  A  city  or  town  in  which  a  State  road  lies  shall,  at  its 
own  expense,  keep  such  road  sufficiently  clear  of  snow  and  ice  so 
that  the  same  shall  be  reasonably  safe  for  travel,  as  now  required  by 
the  public  statutes  and  amendments  thereto. 

Section  3.  Instead  of  filing  the  original  petition  with  the  county 
commissioners,  as  now  required  by  section  two  of  chapter  four  hun- 


APPENDIX  A  275 

dred  and  ninety-seven  of  the  acts  of  tlie  year  eighteen  hundred  and 
ninety-four,  it  shall  hereafter  be  sufficient  to  file  a  certified  copy 
thereof  with  said  county  commissioners. 

Section  4.  This  act  shall  take  effect  upon  its  passage. 

lAjjproved  April  28,  1896.] 

Acts  of  1896,  Chapter  481 
an  act  relative  to  the  construction  of  state  highways 

Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  as  follows  : 

Section  1.  The  Massachusetts  Highway  Commission  is  hereby  au- 
thorized to  expend  a  sum  not  exceeding  six  hundred  thousand  dollars 
for  the  construction  of  State  highways,  in  accordance  with  the  pro- 
visions of  chapter  four  hundred  and  seventy-six  of  the  acts  of  the 
year  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-three,  and  chapter  four  hundred 
and  ninety-seven  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety- 
four. 

Section  2.  No  persons  excei)t  citizens  of  this  commonwealth  shall 
be  employed  on  the  work  authorized  by  this  act. 

Section  3.  For  the  purpose  of  meeting  any  expenses  which  may 
be  incurred  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  the  treasurer  and  receiver- 
general  is  hereby  authorized,  with  the  approval  of  the  governor  and 
council,  to  issue  scrip  or  certificates  of  indebtedness  to  an  amount 
not  exceeding  six  hundred  thousand  dollars,  for  a  term  not  exceeding 
thirty  years.  Said  scrip  or  certificates  of  indebtedness  shall  be  issued 
as  registered  bonds  or  with  interest  coupons  attached,  and  shall  bear 
interest  not  exceeding  four  per  cent,  per  annum,  payable  semi-annu- 
ally on  the  first  day  of  April  and  of  October  in  each  year.  Such  scrip 
or  certificates  of  indebtedness  shall  be  designated  on  their  face  as  the 
State  Highway  Loan,  shall  be  countersigned  by  the  governor,  and 
shall  be  deemed  a  pledge  of  the  faith  and  credit  of  the  commonwealth, 
and  the  principal  and  interest  thereof  shall  be  paid  at  the  times  speci- 
fied therein  in  gold  coin  of  the  United  States  or  its  equivalent ;  and 
said  scrip  or  certificates  of  indebtedness  shall  be  sold  and  disposed  of 
at  public  auction,  or  in  such  other  manner,  at  such  times  and  prices, 
in  such  amounts,  and  at  such  rates  of  interest,  not  exceeding  the  rate 
above  specified,  as  shall  be  deemed  best.  The  sinking-fund  estab- 
lished by  chapter  four  hundred  and  ninety-seven  of  the  acts  of  the 
year  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-four  shall  also  be  maintained  for 


276  APPENDICES 

the  purpose  of  extinguishing  bonds  issued  under  the  authority  of  this 
act,  and  the  treasurer  and  receiver-general  shall  apportion  thereto 
from  year  to  year  an  amount  sufficient  with  the  accumulations  of  said 
fund  to  extinguish  at  maturity  the  debt  incurred  by  the  issue  of  said 
bonds.  The  amount  necessary  to  meet  the  annual  sinking-fund  re- 
quirements and  to  pay  the  interest  on  said  bonds  shall  be  raised  by 
taxation  from  year  to  year. 

Section  4.  This  act  shall  take  effect  upon  its  passage. 

[Jpj?roved  June  4,  1896.] 

Acts  op  1896,  Chapter  513 

an  act  to  provide  for  aiding  towns  in  the  construction 
and  maintenance  of  better  roads 

Be  it  enacted,  etc,  as  folloios  : 

Section  1.  Upon  the  application  to  the  Massachusetts  Highway 
Commission  of  the  county  commissioners  of  any  county,  made  at  the 
request  of  any  town  of  not  more  than  twelve  thousand  inhabitants 
within  said  county,  there  shall  be  furnished  by  said  Highway  Com- 
mission to  said  county,  at  the  expense  of  the  commonwealth,  one 
or  more  steam-rollers,  portable  stone-crushers,  and  such  other  road 
machines  as  the  said  Highway  Commission  may  deem  necessary  for 
the  construction  and  maintenance  of  better  roads  in  the  town  making 
such  request.  Such  machines  shall  remain  the  property  of  the  com- 
monwealth and  shall  be  managed  and  maintained  under  the  direction 
of  the  county  commissioners.  The  county  commissioners  shall  en- 
gage competent  engineers  and  skilled  mechanics  to  operate  said 
machines,  who  shall  be  paid  from  the  county  treasury  such  sums  for 
each  day's  actual  services  as  the  county  commissioners  may  deter- 
mine. The  expenses  so  incurred  shall  be  repaid  to  the  county  by  the 
towns  using  said  machines,  as  apportioned  by  the  county  commis- 
sioners, in  proportion  to  the  time  in  which  such  machines  were  used 
by  them. 

Section  2.  Chapter  four  hundred  and  eighty-six  of  the  acts  of  the 
year  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-five  is  hereby  repealed. 

Section  3.  This  act  shall  take  effect  upon  its  passage. 

IJpproved  June  6,  1896.] 


APPENDIX  A  277 


Acts  of  1896,  Chapter  548 

AN  ACT  MAKING  APPROPRIATION  FOR  EXPENSES  AUTHORIZED  BY 
THE  PRESENT  LEGISLATURE  AND  FOR  CERTAIN  OTHER 
EXPENSES  AUTHORIZED  BY  LAW 

Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  as  follows: 

For  expenses  in  connection  with  aiding  towns  in  the  construction 
and  maintenance  of  better  roads,  as  authorized  by  chapter  five  hun- 
dred and  thirteen  of  the  acts  of  the  present  year,  a  sum  not  exceed- 
ing twelve  thousand  dollars. 

Acts  of  1896,  Chapter  541 

an  act  relative  to  street  railways  located  on  state 
highways 

Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  as  follows  : 

Section  1.  Whenever  in  the  construction  of  a  State  highway  it 
becomes  necessary,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Massachusetts  Highway 
Commission,  to  change  the  location,  relay  or  change  the  grade  of  that 
part  of  any  street-railway  located  on  said  highway,  or  to  place  differ- 
ent material  between  its  tracks,  or  to  make  any  other  change  in  the 
location  and  construction  of  said  railway,  said  commission  may,  in 
the  manner  provided  in  section  twenty-two  of  chapter  one  hundred 
and  thirteen  of  the  public  statutes  for  making  such  changes  by  boards 
of  aldermen  and  selectmen,  order  the  company  owning  or  operating 
said  railway  to  make  such  changes  ;  provided,  however,  that  the  com- 
pany shall  thereafter  enjoy  the  same  rights  in  the  new  location  that 
it  had  in  the  original  location ;  and,  unless  the  same  are  made  within 
the  time  limited  by  said  commission,  the  commission  may  make  said 
changes,  and  the  cost  of  making  the  same,  whether  by  the  railway 
company  or  by  said  commission,  shall  be  paid  by  said  commission  ; 
said  cost  with  interest  at  a  rate  not  exceeding  four  per  cent,  per 
annum  shall  be  paid  by  said  railway  company  to  the  commonwealth 
in  ten  equal  annual  payments  ;  and  the  auditor  of  the  commonwealth 
on  or  before  the  first  day  of  July  in  each  year  shall  certify  the  amount 
due  to  the  tax  commissioner,  who  shall  forthwith  demand  the  same ; 
and  payment  shall  be  made  within  thirty  days  thereafter.  The  claim 
of  the  commonwealth  shall  have  priority  over  all  other  claims  against 

17 


278  APPENDICES 

said  railway  company,  except  for  labor,  and  shall  be  collected  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  corporation  tax;  but  any  such  company  may 
itself  pay  for  the  expenses  of  said  changes  at  the  time  of  making 
the  same,  and  may  anticipate  said  annual  payments  in  whole  or 
in  part. 

Section  2.  This  act  shall  take  effect  upon  its  passage. 

\_Approved  June  9,  1896.] 


APPENDIX  B 

SHOWING  LABORATOEY  EXPERIMENTS  ON  ROAD- 
BUILDING  STONES  1 

The  following  described  results  were  obtained  in  the  Mgliway 
laboratory  of  tlie  engineering  department  of  the  Lawrence  Scientific 
School  of  Harvard  University.  Those  under  the  head  ''CoefScient 
of  Abrasion  "  were  obtained  by  the  Deval  method,  which  has  been 
employed  for  some  time  by  the  French  engineers  for  determining  the 
relative  value  of  the  stone  used  in  the  construction  and  maintenance 
of  the  national  highways  of  France.  These  results  are  said  to  agree 
well  with  those  obtained  in  actual  practice. 

The  apparatus  used  in  the  tests  consists  of  a  cast-iron  cylinder  20 
em.  in  diameter  and  34  cm.  in  depth.  At  one  end  is  an  opening 
which  can  be  closed  with  a  tightly  fitting  iron  cover.  This  cylinder 
is  mounted  on  an  axle  at  an  angle  of  30°  with  the  axis  of  the  cylinder, 
and  is  supported  on  an  iron  frame.  At  one  end  of  the  axle  is  a  pulley- 
wheel  by  which  the  cylinder  is  revolved ;  at  the  other  is  an  instrument 
which  records  its  revolution. 

The  stone  to  be  tested  is  first  broken  into  pieces  between  6.31  cm. 
and  3.18  cm.  in  diameter,  which  are  carefully  washed  to  remove  any 
foreign  matter.  In  the  cylinder  are  placed  5  kilograms  of  this  stone. 
The  top  is  then  bolted  on,  and  the  cylinder  is  made  to  revolve  for 
five  hours  at  the  rate  of  2000  revolutions  an  hour,  making  in  all 
10,000  revolutions.  By  this  process  the  stones  are  thrown  from  one 
end  of  the  cylinder  to  the  other,  and  at  the  same  time  are  rolled 
against  the  sides  of  the  vessel  and  against  one  another.     When  10,- 

1  Reprinted  from  annual  report  of  Massachusetts  Highway  Com- 
mission for  1896. 

279 


280  APPENDICES 

000  revolutions  are  completed  the  cover  is  removed  and  the  contents 
emptied  into  a  tray.  The  cylinder  is  then  thoroughly  washed  to  re- 
move the  dust  that  adheres  to  its  sides.  Each  stone  above  3.18  cm. 
in  diameter  is  then  washed  under  the  same  water.  This  water  is 
then  filtered,  and  the  filtrate  when  dry  is  mixed  with  the  detritus 
taken  from  the  cylinder.  The  detritus  is  then  put  into  a  sieve,  by 
which  it  is  separated  automatically  into  seven  sizes.  These  seven 
sizes,  together  with  the  stones  that  have  not  been  worn  below  3.18 
cm.  in  diameter,  are  each  carefully  weighed  and  their  weights  re- 
corded. 

The  amount  of  detrition  under  .16  cm.  is  rarely  less  than  20  grams 
per  kilogram  of  stone  used;  therefore  20  has  been  adopted  as  the 
standard,  and  the  coefScient  of  quality  is  obtained  by  the  following 
formula : 

20        400 
3  =  20  X  —  =  — f 

u  u 

in  which  n  represents  the  weight  in  grams  of  detritus  per  kilogram 
of  stone. 

It  seemed  well,  in  beginning  this  work,  to  be  guided  as  far  as  pos- 
sible by  the  experience  of  others  ;  and  for  this  reason  the  Deval  test 
was  adopted,  for  it  appeared  to  be  the  only  practicable  method  of  test- 
ing road  metals  yet  devised.  After  a  number  of  trials  were  completed 
with  the  Deval  apparatus,  and  their  results  studied,  it  was  recognized 
that  all  the  valuable  properties  possessed  by  a  good  road  metal  were 
not  embraced  in  this  test.  The  value  of  any  good  stone  as  a  road 
metal  is  due  to  certain  properties  possessed  by  it.  Among  these  there 
are  three  which  stand  prominent— cementing  value,  toughness,  and 
hardness.  It  is  evident  that  the  Deval  apparatus  does  not  test  the 
very  important  property  of  cementing  value  in  the  different  road 
metals.  The  commission,  recognizing  this  deficiency,  accordingly 
directed  its  attention  to  devising  some  means  of  supplying  it.  As 
no  previous  attempt  has  been  made  in  this  direction,  the  commission^ 
had  to  invent  its  own  method,  which  is  as  follows : 

The  stone  to  be  tested  is  ground  to  a  powder  and  passed  through 
a  sieve  of  .  25  mm.  The  powder  is  then  put  in  a  slightly  tapered  steel 
die  of  circular  section,  about  3  cm.  diameter,  mixed  with  water,  and 
subjected  to  a  pressure  of  2300  kilograms.  The  resulting  briquet  is 
then  put  aside  for  at  least  one  week,  so  it  may  thoroughly  dry. 

It  was  at  first  thought  that  a  test  by  direct  compression  would  de- 


APPENDIX  B  281 

termine  the  cementing  power  of  the  stone.  A  number  of  "briquets 
were  tried  in  this  way,  but  the  results  were  not  very  satisfactory. 
On  further  consideration  it  appeared  that  a  test  by  impact  would 
more  thoroughly  determine  the  cementing  power  of  the  stone  than 
that  by  compression,  and  this  method  would  have  the  further  advan- 
tage of  approximating  more  closely  to  the  actual  conditions  obtaining 
on  roads ;  accordingly  a  machine  was  devised  for  testing  the  briquets 
by  impact.  With  this  machine  a  hammer  one  kilogram  in  weight  can 
be  dropped  freely  from  any  desired  height  upon  a  plunger  under  which 
the  briquet  to  be  tested  is  placed.  The  hammer  works  automatically, 
and  is  tripped  at  the  desired  height.  Attached  to  the  plunger  is  a 
lever  pivoted  at  one  sixth  of  its  length  from  the  plunger,  and  carrying 
a  pencil  at  its  free  end.  The  pencil  has  a  vertical  movement  five  times 
as  great  as  that  of  the  plunger,  and  its  movement  is  registered  on  a 
drum  against  which  the  pencil  presses.  The  drum  rotates  through 
a  small  angle  at  each  stroke  of  the  hammer.  An  automatic  diagram 
is  thus  taken  of  the  behavior  of  the  briquet  throughout  the  whole  test. 

An  analysis  of  the  diagram  so  taken  shows  at  once  the  number  of 
blows  required  to  cause  the  destruction  of  the  briquet.  A  very  inter- 
esting point  is  brought  out  by  these  diagrams,  viz.  :  in  every  case  the 
diagram  shows  that  the  plunger  rebounded  at  each  stroke  until  the 
briquet  began  to  fail.  This  behavior  is  exactly  analogous  to  the 
elastic  phenomena  observed  in  all  materials  of  construction ;  conse- 
quently the  point  at  which  the  briquet  ceases  to  rebound  corresponds 
to  the  elastic  limit  of  the  material.  Beyond  this  point  the  briquet 
falls  to  pieces  rapidly. 

Briquets  were  made  from  many  kinds  of  stone  and  were  tested  in 
this  machine.  It  was  thought  desirable  to  use  a  constant  blow  for 
all  the  briquets,  and  a  short  experience  indicated  a  fall  of  3  em.  as 
suitable,  since  it  broke  the  most  tenacious  materials  with  a  moderate 
number  of  blows,  and  yet  was  not  too  great  to  permit  the  careful  de- 
termination of  the  properties  of  the  poorer  stones.  All  the  briquets 
were  2.5  cm.  high. 

The  surface  of  a  macadamized  road  is  constantly  being  abraded  and 
recemented.  Evidently  a  road  made  from  a  material  which  has  the 
property  of  recementing  in  a  high  degree  will  keep  in  better  condi- 
tion than  one  made  from  a  material  of  lower  recementing  power.  It 
was  therefore  desirable  to  determine  the  recementing  properties  of 
the  stones  tested.  A  new  set  of  briquets  was  made,  differing  from 
the  former  only  in  that  they  were  of  constant  weight  instead  of  con- 

18 


282 


APPENDICES 


stant  height.     These  were  tested  in  the  manner  described  above,  and 
then  were  remade  and  retested. 

It  has  not  been  thought  desirable  to  present  herewith  the  complete 
data  obtained  from  the  impact  test,  as  the  series  is  not  yet  completed. 
The  writer  has,  however,  collected  and  shown  in  accompanying  table 
some  of  the  more  important  results  thus  far  obtained,  a  sufficient 
number  to  indicate  the  scope  of  the  work  done.  In  this  table  the 
stones  are  arranged  in  the  order  of  their  power  of  resisting  abra- 

TABLE  SHOWINa  SPECIFIC  DENSITIES,  COEFFICIENTS 

ING  VALUES  OF 


CiTT  OB  Town. 


Is 


31, 

VII. 

(16-V), 

31, 

II. 

(32-L), 

3fi, 

VI. 

(32-G), 

38, 

I. 

(16-D), 

38; 

I. 

(12-C), 

31, 

VII. 

(20-V), 

38, 

I. 

(10-C), 

3f>, 

VI. 

(7-P), 

3fi, 

VI. 

(3-H), 

31, 

VII. 

(21-Y), 

31, 

Vi. 

(25-P), 

31, 

VII. 

(24-W), 

31, 

IV. 

(31-N), 

12, 

II. 

(25-R), 

37, 

VI. 

(31-F), 

38, 

III. 

(30-K), 

31, 

VI. 

(7-B), 

.^8, 

I. 

(12-K), 

36, 

VI. 

(29-1), 

31, 

VIII. 

(6-N), 

44, 

III. 

(26-L), 

31, 

VII. 

(26-T), 

43, 

II. 

(32-F), 

43, 

IV. 

(34-K), 

38, 

I. 

(12-N), 

26, 

VIII. 

(23-V), 

5, 

III. 

(16-K), 

31, 

VI. 

(5-B), 

43, 

II. 

(28-U), 

32, 

VII. 

(3-P), 

13, 

IX. 

(1-B), 

Saugus,  Essex  Co.,  Mass 

Newton,  Middlesex  Co.,  Mass 

Newbury,  Essex  Co.,  Mass 

Lynn,  Essex  Co.,  Mass 

Lynn,  Essex  Co.,  Mass 

Saugus,  Essex  Co.,  Mass 

Lynn,  Essex  Co.,  Mass 

Salisbury,  Essex  Co. ,  Mass 

Newburyport,  Essex  Co.,  Mass 

Saugus,  Essex  Co.,  Mass 

Boston,  Suffolk  Co.,  Mass 

Saugus,  Essex  Co.,  Mass 

Medford,  Middlesex  Co.,  Mass 

West  Springfield,  Hampden  Co.,  Mass, 

Salem,  Essex  Co.,  Mass 

Quincy,  Norfolk  Co.,  Mass 

Brookline,  Norfolk  Co.,  Mass 

Lynn,  Essex  Co.,  Mass 

Newbury,  Essex  Co.,  Mass 

Everett,  Middlesex  Co.,  Mass 

Duxbury,  Plymouth  Co.,  Mass 

Revere,  Suffolk  Co.,  Mass 

Gloucester,  Essex  Co.,  Mass 

Rockport,  Essex  Co.,  Mass 

Meriden,  Conn 

Lynn,  Essex  Co.,  Mass 

Chester,  Hampden  Co.,  Mass 

Waltham,  Middlesex  Co.,  Mass 

Lee,  Berkshire  Co.,  Mass 

Lee,  Berkshire  Co.,  Mass 

Lee,  Berkshire  Co.,  Mass 

Brookline,  Norfolk  Co.,  Mass 

Gloucester,  Essex  Co.,  Mass 

Northampton,  Mass 

Chester,  Hampden  Co. ,  Mass 

Quincy,  Norfolk  Co. ,  Mass 

Plymouth,  Plymouth  Co.,  Mass 

Orange,  Franklin  Co. ,  Mass 


3.03 
2.80 


3.01 

Koi 

3.03 
2.96 
2.92 
2.96 
2.99 
2.66 

2."87 
2.68 
2.65 


2.62 

2160 

2'87 
2.64 
2.74 

2!66 


APPENDIX  B 


283 


sion.  Column  1  contains  the  specific  density  of  the  stones ;  column  2 
the  coefS.eients  of  abrasion  (determined  in  the  manner  previously 
described) ;  the  next  column  gives  the  number  of  blows  required  to 
stress  the  2.5-cm.  briquets  to  their  elastic  limits ;  column  4  gives  the 
same  data  for  the  first  testing  of  the  30-gram  briquets  prepared  for 
the  recementation  test,  and  the  next  column  gives  the  number  of 
blows  that  the  recemented  briquets  will  stand  before  reaching  their 
elastic  limits. 


OF  ABRASION,  CEMENTING  VALUES,  AND  RECEMENT- 
STONES  TESTED 


s. 

8. 

4. 

6. 

1° 

fl 

1^ 

Cementing 
Value  of 
30-Gram 
Briquet. 

ih.i 

m 

Name  op  Stonk. 

21.22 



Diabase. 

20.79 

Trachyte. 

20.40 



Olivin  diabase. 

20.37 



'56' 

"29' 

Diabase. 

19.77 

Diabase. 

18.25 

'.!!". 

.... 

'.'.'.'. 

Diabase. 

18.17 

Diabase. 

16.76 

Camptonite. 

16,10 

.... 

'40* 

"34' 

Diabase. 

16.08 

42 

20 

Diabase. 

16.06 

'23' 

109 

31 

Felsite. 

16.02 

121 

39 

Diabase. 

15.82 

.... 

Diabase. 

15.60 

'82" 

Olivin  diabase  (poor  specimen). 

15.55 

27 

'19 " 

Augite  diorite  (poor  specimen). 

15.21 



14.71 

"28" 

OUvin  diabase. 

14.66 

Felsite. 

14.45 

'...'. 

'...'. 

Quartz  diorite. 

13.87 





Olivin  diabase  (coarse-grained). 

13.46 

Hornblende  granitite. 

13.21 

"9' 

Felsite. 

12.63 

""5" 



Augite  nepbelin  syenite. 
Hornblende  granitite. 

12.57 

12.50 



Augite  diabase  (poor  specimen). 

12.30 

"6 

Felsite. 

12.21 

11 

Schist. 

12.16 

16 



Hornblende  granitite. 

12.15 



.... 

Schist. 

11.65 

'...'. 

Quartzite. 

11.43 

'23" 

Gneiss. 

11.40 

31 

Hornblende  diorite. 

11.03 

6 

'..'.'. 

Hornblende  granitite. 

10.69 

Hornblende  granitite. 

10.62 

35 

Magnetite  corundum  gneiss. 

10.16 





Hornblende  granitite. 

10.10 

11 

18 

"12" 

Field  stone  (erratics). 

9.78 

12 

27 

17 

Hornblende  granitite. 

284 


APPENDICES 


TABLE  SHOWING  SPECIFIC  DENSITIES.  COEFFICIENTS  OF 

VALUES  OP  STONES 


City  ob  Town, 


31 


VII. 
V. 


IV.    (23-T),  Great  Barrington,  Berksliire  Co.,  Mass 

Nantucket,  Nantucket  Co.,  Mass 

Pittsfleld,  Berkshire  Co.,  Mass 

Somerville,  Middlesex  Co.,  Mass 

North  Attleborough,  Mass 

Diamond  Hill,  Cumberland,  R.  I. . . 

31,     VII.  (12-W),  Saugus,  Essex  Co.,  Mass 

Tisbury,  Dukes  Co.,  Mass 

Mattapoisett,  Mass 

Newton,  Middlesex  Co.,  Mass 

Somerville,  Middlesex  Co.,  Mass 

Lenox,  Berksliire  Co.,  Mass 

Buckland,  Franklin  Co.,  Mass 

Tomkius  Cove,  N.  Y 

Holden,  Mass 

Whitman,  Mass 

Paxton,  Worcester  Co.,  Mass 

IX.    (15-Z),  Lee,  Berkshire  Co.,  Mass 


Ill 
31,  V 

2,  VIII 
10,         II 


(28-D), 
(14-T), 


(1-V), 
(7-M), 
(24-R), 
(26-B), 


An  inspection  of  the  above  table  suggests  some  general  considerations  as 
to  the  relative  values  for  road  materials  of  different  varieties  of  stone,  but  it 
appears  to  the  vrriter  to  be  injudicious,  with  the  limited  data  at  hand,  to  discuss 
them. 


APPENDIX  B 


285 


ABRASION,  CEMENTING  VALUES, 
TESTED  (Concluded)  


AND  RECEMENTING 


8. 

s. 

4. 

5. 

Coefficient 
of  Wear 

fl 

^0 

Name  of  Stonk, 

9.52 
9.47 
9.38 
9.28 
9.09 
9.07 
8.99 
8.88 
8.78 
8.67 
8.48 
8.04 
7.94 
7.84 
6.58 
5.93 
5.01 
2.85 

'is' 

34 

'14' 
21 

27 
8 
16 

;; 

Limestone. 

Field  stone  (erratics). 

Limestone. 

Diabase  (very  coarse-grained). 

Field  stone  (erratics). 

Quartzite. 

Hornblende  granitite. 

Field  stone  (erratics). 

Field  stone  (erratics). 

Conglomerate. 

Slate  (Cambrian?). 

Schist. 

Hornblende  gneiss. 

Limestone  (silicious). 

Field  stone  (erratics). 

Field  stone  (erratics). 

Granitoid  gneiss. 

Marble. 

In  closing,  it  may  be  well  to  state  that  methods  for  testing  respectively  the 
toughness  and  hardness  of  road  metals  have  also  been  devised,  but  they  have  not 
been  employed  a  sufficient  time  to  give  enough  results  to  warrant  their  tabulation. 

LOGAN  WALLER  PAGE. 


APPEN 

SHOWma  CONTRACT  PRICES  ON 
TABLE   OF  CON 


Contractor. 

Excavation. 

d 

o 

i 

Town. 

4 

S 

li 

1 

1 

1 

1 

Cubic 
Yard. 

$  0  25 

Cubic 
Yard. 

Cubic 
Yard. 

Cubic 
Yard. 

Cubic 
Yard. 

Cubic 
Yard. 

Cubic 
Yard. 

%\  50 
1  75 

Ashby,  1894  

Town 

25 
30 

30 

40 
45 

|0  30 

Aslitty,  1895 

Town 

1  75 

Atliol 

Town 

1  75 

Town 

1  75 

Beverly 

City     . . 

1  75 

Town 

|0  25 

$0  25 

|0  25 

$0  40 

1  75 

Buckland,  1891 

Town 

30 

35 

25 
25 
35 

1  75 

Buckland,  1895 

Town 

1  75 

Cottage  City,  1894.... 
Cottage  City,  1895 .... 

Town 

1  75 

Deerfield 

Town 

30 

30 

30 

50 

1  75 

25 
25 
25 
35 
27 
35 
25 
30 
504 
30 

30 

40 
30 
25 
30 
30 

30 

1  75 

Duxbury,  1894  

Duxbury,  1895 

Easthampton 

Fairliaven   1894 

Town 

1  75 

1  75 

1  75 

Town      .     . 

Fairhaven,  1895 

1  75 

Fitclil)urg,  1894 

City 

citv :.;:::.: 

40 
\     40 

1  75 

Gloucester,  1894 

City { 

1  75 

1  75 

1  75 

30 
35 

1  75 

Great  Barrington  . . . 
Hadley  1894       ..  -. 

Town 

1  75 

Hadlev  1895 

Town 

Hendrick,  Taylor 
&  Warner 

2  00 

1  Bed  granite;  not  local. 
4  Sand. 


2  Local  trap. 

5  Opening  three  feet  or : 


286 


DIX  C 

STATE  ROADS  DURING  1894-95 
TRACT  PRICES 


Bubble 
Masonry. 

1 

a 

1 

Broken 

Stone. 

I"! 

Is; 

f 

0 

i 

I 

i 

1 

1 

■i 

J 

H 

1 

Cubic 
Yard.' 

$2  50 
2  50 
2  50 

2  50 

3  00 

2  50 

3  00 
2  50 
2  50 

"'2"56 
2  50 
2  50 
2  50 

2  50 

3  00 
2  50 
2  50 
2  00 
2  00 
2  50 

(2  506 

H007 

2  50 

2  50 

2  50 

"sob 

4  00 

Cubic 
Yard. 

$4  00 

'"4'50 

4  50 

5  00 
5  00 
5  00 

5  00 

"s'oo 

5  00 
5  00 

4  00 

"4'66 

5  00 

"S'oo 

■"2"56 
4  50 

"S'oo 

Cubic 
Yard. 

$  0  40 
30 
50 
40 

40 
50 

50 

""60 
60 

50 
50 
50 
50 

""70 
50 
50 

GO 

50 

50 
30 
60 
50 
60 

Sq. 
YaJd. 

$0  33 
20 
25 

33 
33 
35 

30 

33 

""33 
33 
33 
33 
33 
30 



33 
25 
30 

33 

25 

35 
33 
33 
33 

Yard. 

$0  02 

""62 
02 
02 
02 
02 

02 

""62 
02 
02 
02 

""62 
02 

""62 

'"62 

02 
""62 

Ton. 

$  1  32 

"^167 

1  17 

•;;;;! 

"i"83 

'■■■■■{ 

1  97 
1  913 

"i'53 
1  47 
1  52 

"i'46 
145 

1  24 

1  53 
1  75 

Ton. 

$  2  05 

"i"98i 
2  18 
2  30 
2  002 

"i'921 

1  851 

2  05 

"i"95 
2  10 

"i'68 

"i"83 

2  00 

"2"85 
2  20 

1  93 

2  00 

Linear 
Foot. 

$0  60 
60 
60 

60 
60 
60 

y-'eo 

'"60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 

60 

65 

60 
60 
60 

""60 

53 

Linear 
Foot, 

$0  15 
10 
15 

15 

15 
15 
15 
12 

15 

""ie 

15 
15 
15 
10 
15 
15 
12 
15 
10 
15 

12 

(       106 
?       128 
15 
12 
12 
12 
15 

15 

Linear 
Foot. 

$'6"25 
25 

33 

33 
35 
33 

33 

""33 
33 

25 
25 
33 
25 
33 
25 

25 

35 
35 

25 
25 

19 

Sq. 
Yard. 

$0  60 
60 
50 

50 

50 
60 
50 
65 
50 

""60 
65 
65 
70 
70 
50 
70 
50 

""56 
65 

75 
60 

""76 

Each. 

$125 
1  25 
1  25 
150 

1  50 
125 
125 
100 

150 

"i"50 
1  50 
1  50 
125 
1  00 
1  00 
1  50 
100 
150 
1  00 
1  00 

1  50 

1  25 

150 
1  00 
1  25 
75 
1  25 

50 

3  Also  beach  stone  for  foundation,  ninety  cents  per  ton. 
6  Unpainted.  '  Opening  more  than  three  feet. 

287 


8  Painted. 


288 


APPENDICES 


TABLE  OF  CONTRACT 


CONTRACTOB. 

Excavation. 

1 

Town. 

1 

15 

t 

I 

1 

1 

} 

Hingliama 

Holbrook- Weymouth, 
Holden  1894 

Town 

Cubic 
Yard. 

$0  43 
35 
35 
30 
30 
35 

Cubic 
Yard. 

Cubic 
Yard. 

Cubic 
Yard. 

Cubic 
Yard. 

Cubic 
Yard. 

Cubic 
Yard. 

W.T.Davis 

$1  50 
1  75 

10  50 

Holden  1895 

Town 

1  75 

Hun  tin  ""ton 

Town 

1  50 

Lee  1894 

30 

1  50 

Lee  1895 

1  75 

Leicester  1894 

Town 

5 

10  35 
35 
50 

1  75 

$  0  25 
35 

$  0  25 
35 

$  0  35 
50 

1  75 

1  75 

Lincoln 

Town 

35 
25 

1  75 

Marion,  1894... 

35 

35 

60 

1  75 

Marshfleld 

Town 

25 
25 
35 
30 
25 
30 
20 
20 
20 

28 
25 
30 

30 

35 

1  75 

Mattapoisett,  1894.... 
Mattapoisett,  1895  .... 

Town 

1  75 

Town 

Town 

1  75 

Middleborougli,  1895.. 

1  75 

1  75 

Nantucket  1894 

Town 

Nantucket  (1),  1895... 
Nantucket  (2),  1895 . . . 
Norfolk 

Town 

Hendrick,  Taylor 

&  Warner 

Town 

North  Adams 

30 

1  75 

City    

North   Attlehorough, 

1894 

30 

North  Attleborough, 

1895 

Town 

1  75 

Town 

35 

35 

50 

50 

1  75 

Orange,  1894  and  1895  . 
Paxton  (1) 

25 
35 
35 
25 
25 
25 

1  75 

Town 

40 

1  75 

Paxton  (2) 

Town  .  . 

1  75 

Pittsfleld      

City 

35 

25 

1  50 

Plymouth,  1894 

Plymouth,  1895 

Town 

1  75 

1  75 

Town 

35 

35 

35 

35 

1  75 

Russell,  H.,  1894  

30 
30 
30 
35 
30 
25 
40 

30 
30 

1  50 

Russell  F    1894 

Town 

1  50 

Russell,  H.,  1895 

1  75 

Scituate 

Town 

1  75 

Shelburne,  1894 

Town 

1  75 

Shelburne,  1895 

Shrewsbury 

1  75 

Town 

1  75 

25 

30 

60 

60 

1  75 

City 

40 

1  75 



Opening  three  feet  or  less. 

6  Also  common  wall,  $2. 


2  Opening  more  than  three  feet. 
lO  per  rod ;  face  wall,  $3.50  per  rod, 
9  Not  trap  ;  granite  from  quarry. 


APPENDIX  C 


289 


PEICES  (Continiied) 


EUBBLE 

Masonry, 

0 

1 

a 

Broekk 

Stone. 

4 
11 

> 

1 

If 

i 

1 

i 

4 

«• 

1 

1 

2, 

Cubic 
Yard. 

$3  50 
2  50 

2  50 

2  50 
(2  501 
U  502 

3  50 
2  50 
2  50 
2  506 
2  50 
2  50 

2  50 

2  50 
2  50 
2  50 
2  50 
2  50 
2  50 

2  50 
5  00 

2  50 

3  00 
2  50 
2  50 
2  50 
2  50 
2  50 
2  50 
2  50 
2  50 
2  50 
2  50 
2  50 
2  50 
25010 
2  50 

2  50 

3  00 

Cubic 
Yard. 

$5  00 

4  50 
J  4  50 

5  00 

"4  00 
5  00 

4  50 

5  00 

"566 

'  "460 

4  50 

"5'6o 

5  00 

6  00 

5  00 
5  00 

4  00 

"4"56 

"5 '66 

5  00 

"4 '56 

4  50 

"4  "56 

5  00 
4  50 
4  50 

Cubic 
Yard. 

$ohb 

(     504 

[     65 

40 

65 

45 
100 
65 
60 
40 
50 

75 

50 

"■""56 

50 

50 

35 

1  50 

1  75 

175 

'""60 

50 
60 
40 
75 
65 
50 
50 
50 
55 
40 
40 
40 
40 

""■55 
50 
60 

Sq. 
Yard. 

,$'6'35 

25 

35 

33 
25 
30 
33 
30 

30 

33 
33 
30 
33 
33 
33 

"""33 

30 
35 
33 
30 
30 
33 
33 

"""30 
25 
25 
25 
30 

""36 
33 
33 
33 

Sq. 
Yard. 

$0  02 
02 

02 
05 
02 
02 
02 

'"62 
■"62' 

02 

'"02 
02 

02 
02 
02 

'"02 

"'62 
02 

■"62" 

02 

■"62" 
02 
02 
02 

Ton. 

$'i'57 
1  56 

1  70 

■"i'37 
1  43 
1  55 
1  40 
145 
1  45 
1  257 
1  47 
1  30 
1  25 
1  47 
1  28 
1  72 

"i"67 

1  06 

1  37 
1  56 
159 
130 
1  40 

'"i"82 
1  44 

1  48 

■"i'42 

1  52 
1  50 
1  66 

Ton. 

$184 
2  20 
2  40 
2  10 

2  10 

'"2' 828 

3  008 
3  008 

"i'92 

'"2"i2 

'"i'88 

■"2 "66 

2  00 
2  00 

1  859 

Linear 
Foot, 

$0  50 

60 
60 
60 
60 

'"'"66 
60 
60 
60 

60 

60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 

""60 
60 

60 
60 

55 

60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 

"'"60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 

Linear 
Foot. 

$0  15 

15 

14 

12 

15 
12 

""""i.5 
15 
12 

15 

10 
12 
15 
12 
15 
12 

'""is 

15 

20 
12 

15 
15 
12 
13 
15 
12 
12 
12 
15 
12 
12 
14 
15 
12 
15 
15 
15 
15 

Linear 
Foot. 

$"6"25 

33 

33 

25 

35 
25 
25 
35 
33 

33 

25 
25 
33 
25 
25 
25 

""25 

33 
35 
25 
30 
30 
25 
25 

■""33 

27 
27 
33 
33 

■""36 
33 
33 

40 

Sq. 
Yard. 

$'6'56 

50 
50 

60 
60 
60 
60 
50 

60 
70 

"'"■56 
65 
65 
75 

""56 
50 

""76 



70 

"  '60 
70 
65 
65 

""60 
60 
75 
75 
50 
50 

'""'65 
50 
60 
50 

Each. 

$  1  00 
1  00 

1  50 

1  00 

1  25 

1  35 

"i'56 

1  50 

1  25 

75 

1  50 

1  00 
1  00 
1  50 
1  25 
1  25 
1  00 
75 
1  25 
1  25 

1  00 
1  25 

1  50 
1  25 
125 
1  50 
150 
100 
1  25 
125 
1  50 
1  50 
1  50 
1  50 
1  25 
125 
1  25 
1  50 
1  50 
1  25 

3  Lump  sum ;  gravel  road.  4  Different  hauls. 

7  Tailings.  »  Limestone  from  Tompkins  Cove. 

10  Also  -wall  masonry,  $3.50  per  cubic  yard. 


6  Included  in  shaping. 


290 


APPENDICES 


TABLE  OF  CONTRACT 


Contractor. 

Excavation 

1 

Town. 

1 

1 

t 
1 

1 

3 

Cubic 
Yard 

$0  20 

Cubic 
Yard. 

$0  25 

Cubic 
Yard. 

Cubic 
Yard. 

Cubic 
Yard. 

Cubic 
Yard. 

Cubic 
Yard. 

T  YD  gsborough 

Walpole             

Town 

30 
40 
25 
25 
35 
22 
25 
30 

2 

30 

W^atertown 

Town 

$1  75 

Westtield 

30 
30 

Westminster   1894 

Town 

1  75 

1  75 

West  Newbury 

Westport 

C.  H.  Kelleher... 
Town 

1  40 

35 

1  75 

West  Springfleiii 

West  Tisbary 

Town 

1  75 

Town 

$0  25 
35 

$0  30 
35 

i'6"35 

$0  35 
35 

1  75 

1  75 

Whitman  1894 

Town 



40 

40 

1  75 

Whitman,  1895 

40 

40 

40 

40 

1  75 

Wilbraham 

M.  R.  risk 

27 

I 
25 
25 

25 

1  75 

Wrentham  1894 

Town 

30 

1  75 

Wrentham,  1895  . . 

1  75 

30 

1  75 

Yarmouth,  N.,  1895  .  . 

1  75 

Yarmouth  S    1895 

Town 

1  75 

Averages 

f  0  301 

$0  330 

$0  313 

$0  323 

$0  420 

$0  423 

$1  725 

1  Local  trap. 


2  Grubbing,  |100.  s  Long  haul, 

6  Opening  over  six  feet. 


APPENDIX  C 


291 


PRICES  (Concluded) 


EUBBLE 

Masonry. 

1 

0 

H 

1 

Broken 
Stone. 

11 

> 

i 

0 

£ 

1 

1 

1 

1 

Cubic 
Yard. 

$300 

"2'56 
3  00 
2  50 
2  50 
2  50 
2  70 

2  50 

3  00 

2  50 

3  00 

2  50 

3  00 
2  50 

2  50 

2  50 
2  75 

2  50 

3  00 

{ 

Cubic 
Yard. 

$■5 '66 

""5  "66 
5  00 

3  25 

'"6"66 

4  00 

5  00 

"5 '66 

4  50 

5  00 

"45b 
"4 '56 

3  50 
8  505 

Cubic 
Yard. 

l|"6'45 
50 
50 
50 
50 
50 
60 
47 
40 

■""46 
403 
60 
36 

65 

50 

60 

50 

1  00 

\     60 

Sq. 
Yard. 

$0  25 

""33 
33 
25 
33 
33 
65 
33 
35 
25 
30 
33 
30 

33 

25 
33 



Sq. 
Yard. 

$'6  "62 
""62 

"""62 
02 

"""62 
02 
02 

■""62 
02 

02 

""62 

'""62 
02 

Ton. 

$  1  67 
""i"82 

"i'4i 

"l'76 

"'i'88 
1  66 

'■■■■] 

1  48 
1  70 
1  38 
1  59 

Ton. 

$'2 "is 

""i"92 
1  50 
1  92 
1  95 
1  35 

"i"52i 

""2'i66 

"2  "66 

1  904 

2  10 

2  116 

Linear 
Foot. 

$0  65 

■"'"66 

60 
60 
60 
60 
65 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
50 

}     60 

60 
60 
60 
60 

60 

Linear 
Foot. 

$0  12 
15 
12 
15 
10 
10 
15 
19 
12 
15 
16 
15 
12 
15 
13 

15 
12 
15 
12 
15 

12 

Linear 
Foot. 

$0  25 

"""25 
33 
25 
25 
30 
30 
25 
35 
25 
33 
25 
33 

33 

25 
30 

Sq. 
Yard. 

$'6 "65 
50 

"  "66 

85 

""""76 
65 
50 
70 
50 
50 
50 

"""55 
75 
60 

60 

Each. 

$1  00 
125 
1  00 
1  50 
1  00 
1  10 
1  10 
1  00 
125 
1  25 
1  25 

1  50 

2  00 
1  50 
1  25 

1  50 

1  00 
1  25 
1  00 
1  25 

75 

$2  676 

14  750 

$0  567 

$0  315 

$  0  020 

$1  518 

$2  059 

$0  598 

$0  137 

$0  292 

$0  601 

$1  256 

$0.50  per  cubic  yard.  4  Red  granite  from  quarry. 

6  Not  trap ;  granite  from  quarry. 


APPENDIX  D 

LIST  OF  IMPORTANT  WORKS  ON  HIGHWAY  CONSTRUCTION 

The  following  titles  are  those  of  books  which  are  deemed  of  value 
to  the  general  reader.  The  list  omits  many  valuable  publications 
which  are  designed  particularly  for  the  use  of  engineers,  and  also  some 
of  a  popular  nature  which  in  effect  duplicate  those  given  below : 

Byrne,  Austin  T.  A  Treatise  on  Highway  Construction :  Designed 
as  a  Text-book  and  Work  of  Reference  for  all  who  may  be  Engaged 
in  the  Location,  Construction,  or  Maintenance  of  Roads,  Streets,  and 
Pavements.     New  York,  1892.     8vo,  pp.  xxxiv.,  686. 

Egleston,  Nathaniel  Hillyer.  The  Home  and  its  Surround- 
ings ;  or.  Villages  and  Village  Life.  With  Hints  for  their  Improve- 
ment. New  and  revised  edition.  New  York,  Harper  &  Brothers, 
1884.     Illus.,  pp.  326. 

Gillespie,  W.  M.  Manual  of  the  Principles  and  Practice  of  Road- 
making  :  Comprising  the  Location,  Construction,  and  Improvement 
of  Roads  and  Railroads.  New  York,  A.  S.  Barnes  &  Co.,  1847.  Illus. , 
pp.  336. 

Herschel,  Clemens.  Prize  Essay  on  Roads  and  Road-making. 
Boston,  Wright  &  Potter,  1870.     pp.  63. 

Jenks,  Jeremiah  Whipple.  Road  Legislation  for  the  American 
State.  Baltimore,  1889.  American  Economic  Association  Publica- 
tions, vol.  iv.,  pp.  145-227. 

Law,  Henry.  Rudiments  of  the  Art  of  Constructing  and  Repair- 
ing Common  Roads.  To  which  is  Prefixed  a  General  Survey  of  the 
Principal  Metropolitan  Roads,  by  S.  Hughes.  Second  edition,  with 
additions.     London,  John  Meade,  1855.     Illus.,  pp.  158. 

Macadam,  J.  L.     Remarks  on  the  Present  System  of  Road-making. 

292 


APPENDIX  D  293 

With  Observations  Deducted  from  Practice  and  Experience,  with  a 
View  to  the  Revision  of  the  Existing  Laws,  and  the  Introduction  of 
Improvements  in  the  Method  of  Making,  Repairing,  and  Preserving 
Roads,  and  Defending  the  Road  Funds  from  Misapplication.  Eighth 
edition,  revised,  with  an  Appendix  and  Report  from  the  Select  Com- 
mittee of  the  House  of  Commons.     Bristol,  J.  M.  Gutch,  1816. 

MiLLEK,  S.  E.  Second  Prize  Essay  on  the  Construction  and  Repair 
of  Roads.     Boston,  Wright  &  Potter,  1870.     lUus.,  pp.  18. 

Parnell,  Sir  Henry  B.  A  Treatise  on  Roads  :  Wherein  the  Prin- 
ciples on  which  Roads  should  be  Made  are  Explained  and  Illustrated 
by  the  Plans,  Specifications,  and  Contracts  made  Use  of  by  Thomas 
Telford  on  the  Holyhead  Road.  Second  edition.  London,  Longman, 
Orme,  Brown,  Green  &  Longmans,  1838.    With  plates,  8vo,  pp.  465. 

Penfold,  Charles.  A  Practical  Treatise  on  the  Best  Mode  of 
Repairing  Roads.  With  Some  Observations  upon  the  Present  Sys- 
tem.   Croydon,  Crohane.     Library  of  Useful  Knowledge,  pp.  26. 

Potter,  B.  W.  The  Road  and  the  Roadside.  Boston,  Little, 
Brown  &  Co.,  1886.     16mo,  pp.  104. 

Rockwell,  Alfred  Perkins.  Roads  and  Pavements  in  France. 
New  York,  John  Wiley  &  Sons ;  London,  Chapman  &  Wall,  1896. 
pp.  107. 

Streets  and  Highways  in  Foreign  Countries.  Reports  from  the 
Consuls  of  the  United  States,  Washington,  1891. 

The  reader  may  find  certain  considerations  which  have  been  briefly 
treated  in  the  preceding  chapters  of  this  book  presented  in  a  more 
extended  manner  in  the  following  publications  by  the  author : 

A  Preliminary  Report  on  the  Geology  of  the  Common  Roads  of  the 
United  States.  Fifteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Director  of  the 
United  States  Geological  Survey,  1893-94,  pp.  255-306. 

The  Geology  of  the  Road-building  Stones  of  Massachusetts.  With 
Some  Consideration  of  Similar  Materials  from  Other  Parts  of  the 
United  States.    Sixteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Director,  pp.  277-341. 

The  Betterment  of  our  Highways,  Atlantic  Monthly,  October,  1892. 


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